The main story of a side character: Haruno Sakura
by AnneElizabethBee
Summary: Sakura is tired of being the assisting role for her 2 "strong" teammates. As she's the only one to have never left the village,she decided to leave and go on a search of what more she can be. Travelling on an impossible quest of legends, she loses her past self in exchange of finding her true identity. She returns to Konoha without memories but with great surprising powers.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hi! This is my first fanfiction ever. I won't ask you to be nice to me since I'm really writing this story for myself. I don't wish to own Naruto. I think Masashi Kishimoto is brilliant and I adore his own story line, from beginning to the very end of the Naruto series. However, I feel like he wasn't very particular in developing romance in the series. Sure, he let them develop freely but I think there should have been more fluff and a little bit more focus on them. He created the Hiden stories to fill some gaps, yes, but I think I still feel like there's still not enough for my hopelessly romantic self to be satisfied.**

 **I was fulfilled with the NaruHina pairing because of the focused movie on them (The Last Naruto Movie). It's the sweetest thing ever and I wouldn't change a thing there.**

 **I was least fulfilled with the SasuSaku one, well next to the InoSai's one, that is. But one can easily imagine them being together. It's odd for Sakura and Sasuke because there was absolutely no sweetness enough for Sakura to keep loving Sasuke for real aside from admiring his good looks through all those years, and there wasn't enough reason for Sasuke to suddenly fall in love with Sakura.**

 **So I'm writing several stories that first, makes Sakura awesome as a character (because I hate that she's such a weakling as compared to the Naruto and Sasuke.) and try to make more connection between Sakura and Sasuke. This will be the first. Anyway, let's do this ^_^**

"Sakura-chan, you don't have to do this!" Naruto cried, holding tight on Sakura's arms. Ironically, they were near the same bench where Sasuke first left and knocked her out to stop her from screaming, which might have halted his flight if she was able to.

It had been a few years since the end of the war and the village had slowly started rebuilding itself. Kakashi had been appointed hokage, and the perverted sensei had quickly stepped up to the responsibility, surprising everyone who assumed that he was just a foolish, perverted and weird guy, who would probably just spend his time reading Icha Icha paradise in the hokage's office. But of course, in the back of everyone's mind, they knew that Kakashi was one of the most outstanding shinobi out there and in truth, he would be the most qualified to run the village smoothly. He wasn't only fair and brilliant, he also understood everyone in the village in a personal level.

The village was now as peaceful as it can be. Security was maintained even though the threat was significantly less, what with the continuous alliance of the enforced Allied Shinobi forces. Noone was taking advantage of all the countries' situation of trying to stabilize their own countries once more due to the damages caused by the war. As a matter of fact, all the countries try to help each other. There were still minimal threat of rogue ninjas, but the hyped shinobi who all came from the war can easily take care of them.

Sasuke had been gone for a few years now. Given full pardon, vouched for by both the new hokage, Kakashi, and the war hero, Naruto, but also due to the fact that he had helped in stopping the war and defending the world, Sasuke had opted to travel around the world in search of himself. He had finally come into the realization and recognized that his previous acts had been wrong. He was, after all, initially an impulsive brat who tried to destroy his own village and caused mayhem to the heads of the countries. He repented for his sins and had wanted to travel in solitude.

Naruto was clearly being groomed to be the next Hokage. But as of the moment, he was just the ever active shinobi, bringing life to the healing village, annoying people at most, but of course giving hope to everyone who wants to stand on their feet again. Naruto was just simply that kind of person. He was probably unaware of it, but his liveliness and never-give-up attitude had always given people around him hope and passion to whatever they do.

Sakura, on the other hand, was feeling lost. She was known to be the best medic shinobi, next to the legendary Sannin Tsunade. Some even say that she had long surpassed her. She had a high position in the hospital of Konoha, and she had projects that aim to care for children to prevent them into growing to bitter shinobi like the past villains had. But she still felt lost.

Unlike Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura had always been in the village. She trained under Tsunade in the village, she was left by her team there to fit herself to other teams while they were gone doing God-knows-what somewhere else. It probably was unreasonable to feel this way, but she just felt trapped. She felt incomplete knowing that she was the only one of the Team 7 who hadn't tried to explore the world. She was the only one who was left stuck. And even as she already was considered the best kunoichi in the village, she was still significantly weaker than both Naruto and Sasuke.

For once, she wanted something for herself. She needed to be free to finally find herself too. She wanted to be more than the shadow of the great Team 7. She wanted to make something of herself, not force herself to be the medic nin because she knew before that to be one was the only way she will have value to her 2 strong teammates.

And this was what caused her decision to leave.

"Naruto, you know I have to do this. I promise I'll be back! Let go!" Sakura said, trying to pry off the bawling hero beside her.

"How do you know! Why are you guys leaving me! Sasuke is already gone, and now you're leaving too!" Naruto's eyes were brimming with tears. Sakura laughed. After all this time, the now tall and brave Naruto, visited by people all over the world just to see the hero, still had not changed. He can still be as childish, loud, and annoying as ever.

"Naruto, Konoha is my home. I would always come back. I just need…..space." Sakura said thoughtfully, her eyes staring at her path ahead. Excitement was bubbling inside of her. She didn't know why, but she felt like there were many things that she would find in her travels. She would finally be free of the story line that forced her to be a side character beside Naruto and Sasuke. When she steps out of the village, she will finally make her own story.

"I can convince everyone in the village to pretend you're not here so nobody will talk to you! That should be space enough!" Naruto insisted, trying to put his arms around her in restraint.

Sakura giggled. "Jeez let go! I'm not leaving forever! Besides, you two left me before and it was fine! If you want, when Sasuke comes back before me, you could leave too so he'll know what it's like to be left alone in the village!"

Naruto chuckled through his tears. "Yeah. Maybe I will." He sighed and finally loosened his grip on her. "I can't believe Kakashi-sensei allowed you to do this."

Sakura shrugged. "He knows that I need to have an identity for myself. You two are already big people on your own. I want to find something for myself too. I became a medic nin because that's the only way I know I can assist the two of you. I don't want to be the one just assisting now. I want to be just me."

Naruto nodded reluctantly. "I know, I know. I'm just trying one last time to convince you to stay. Just remember, you have to bring all of us goodies when you return okay?"

Sakura hugged him tight, she knew she would miss this adorable teammate of hers in the long run. "I promise. Now be a good boy while I'm gone. And get yourself a girlfriend for heaven's sake, so that you stop pining on me." She winked and started to walk her way.

Naruto blushed at her farewell, but waved a big goodbye as she slowly disappeared from view.

Naruto stood there for a long time, feeling more alone than ever now that both his teammates were gone. He understood Sakura of course. He knew deep in his heart that Sakura would be able to make something big for herself now that she can weave a story on her own. She was just awesome like that. He knew that he needed to let her go eventually, but it would be lonely to be on his own for a while. Of course, he had lots of friends in the village. As a matter of fact, his whole village was his family now. But Sakura and Sasuke would always be the closest to him, his siblings in heart. And he would wait for the two to find themselves. When they come back, he would make sure that Konoha would be the kind of place that they would never want to leave again.

Suddenly, a soft thud landed near him. Instinctively, he sent his fist flying to the source of sound. A firm grasp held his fist and a low chuckle resounded.

"Hey." A raven haired man greeted him with amusement.

Naruto gasped. "Sasuke-teme!" He immediately pounced on his teammate, much to Sasuke's annoyance. Sasuke's face wrinkled as he tried to pry Naruto off him.

"Dobe." He said, resigned, but you can hear the gentleness in his voice, as if knowing that Naruto would pounce on him beforehand.

 _Oh well,_ Naruto thought. _Guess I wouldn't have to be alone after all. Sakura, hurry back, we'll be complete soon._

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Sakura was just casually walking through the path. She didn't really have a specific destination in mind, wherever she ended up, then that was where she would be. She thought about the countries: Land of lightning, land of fire, land of earth, land of wind, and land of water. She had friends everywhere, due to her big contribution as one of the leading medic nin during the war. But she vaguely wondered if that is really it in this world.

She had read a lot of books, and there had been legends that those countries only make up the eastern part of the whole world. There are legends about a northern part, an isolated southern part, and the great West. There was not much information on this because for a long time, each part of the world just ignored each other, minding their own business, or atleast that was what the theories say.

The lack of information on the other lands prevented the others from paving their way across the great oceans that surround the Eastern lands. After all, nobody really knew what was beyond those waters. Perhaps the myth about the other lands were true. Or perhaps it would just lead to an unending maze of mist that nobody could pass through. It was said that some braved their way across. But none ever returned again.

Sakura lifted her shoulders, her backpack's contents rattling at the movement. She thought about those legends and wondered if she was brave enough to try to know what it was all about. Nobody said it was forbidden to try and cross the ocean. It was just that nobody talked about it. Maybe nobody was curious enough. Or if they were curious enough, they were not strong enough to finish the travel.

Finally decided, she turned and made her way to the edge of the country, the first point of the said endless ocean.

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The strong wind lashed on her small boat. Whoever gave her the idea to travel alone and mend the ship on her own was incredibly stupid. But because she was the one who accepted the idea, it made her stupid as well. Suicidal too.

Common knowledge stated that she would need a crew to brave a path of water. To travel through the seas back in the eastern lands already demanded the necessity of a crew. But much to her stubbornness, she insisted on a way to travel on her own. Her adventure was indeed dangerous, and she didn't want to pull down anyone else on her crazy quest.

She had enough supplies to last her for a long time so she knew that survival through common necessity would not be a problem to her. She had also met up with an inventor who was at the time creating a self-handled boat, in need of a test subject who would use it as an experiment. It was a magnificent boat, even though it was untested. It looked like a glass box that had a few chakra holes that she could breathe through. Chakra holes, not actual holes. It allowed the boat to be subdued in big waves and not be penetrated with water.

This boat, in Sakura's care, had already been through 2 storms and it had already rolled and rolled in the water. But nevertheless, the construction of the boat allowed Sakura to be as dry as she can be inside, her supplies still intact, held together with chakra strings. As it was a closed box, this boat had no sails. Instead, it could be moved by following the current, but directed and propelled forward with a boost of chakra. This meant that Sakura herself had to spend chakra to move the boat to the direction that she wanted it to go. If her chakra was already at limit, she could drop the anchor and rest until her chakra was restored again.

It was a genius idea for a boat. However, it was untested and not yet allowed to be used in countries. It was a new invention and Sakura was the first test subject. It might be unstable for all they knew. But Sakura really wanted to brave her way into the adventure of discovery so she risked it and accepted the idea of trying on the new boat. The inventor ofcourse was a bit hesitant into allowing his first test subject to sail across the great unknown ocean. She might not return. And if she really didn't, then he wouldn't have any report on the result of the usage of the boat. Selfish as it may sound, he would only lend the boat to Sakura for free for the main purpose of testing it. He needed the results.

But the young pink-haired kunoichi sparkled with excitement for her quest, her determination got to him as she pleaded her cause adorably. Eventually, the inventor finally relented and let her use the boat.

The boat was as effective as the inventor expected. However, what Sakura didn't count on was encountering the dangers of an unknown body of water. Creatures lurked everywhere. And since the boat was made of clear glass, she was like a large neon sign saying "Target Over Here."

She had already encountered 3 creatures that she never heard of. One was a couple of adorable birds that circled around her boat, singing in a melody that she even swayed her head to. Only to realize that the birds' song was were summoning vicious storms and tidal waves. The storm tossed her around for 3 weeks before she realized that it was the circling birds causing it. Because there were no openings in her glass boat, she had no idea how to chase the birds away. Nearing the third week of the storm, she was so green with seasickness that she desperately touched the chakra holes of the boat. Then amazingly, she was able to expel pointed chakra balls out of it which directly hit the birds. As soon as the birds fell to the water, the ocean finally calmed. How she was able to do that, she doesn't know how. She accounted it on the desperation she felt.

The second creature was a giant fish-like monster that swallowed her boat. Not only did it totally swerve her off course, but the stomach of the creature was acid. Her glass boat had been really strong that not even the gigantic waves which caused extreme water pressure could break it. But the inventor probably wasn't prepared to make it acid proof as well.

Sakura panicked as soon as she saw the edges of her boat start to melt. Desperation filled her system once more. Praying for another miracle, she touched the chakra holes again and tried to put all her chakra there. The boat started to glow, really brighlyt that even she herself had to close her eyes. The next thing she knew was that the part of the creature that was touching the boat started to melt. The creature wailed, so loud that Sakura almost let go of the chakra hole, but she forced herself to hold on.

The boat started to get thrashed around as the creature tried to dispel the cause of its pain. Soon, Sakura saw the streaks of sunlight as the monster finally vomited her boat out. The last she saw of it was it swimming away as fast as it could, away from her toxic boat. She let go of the chakra holes with a sigh of relief.

The third creature she encountered was even weirder. She didn't even notice it for some time. It was the color of the water and it looked like water. It floated under her boat and attached itself to the boat. The weird thing about it is that it kept moving her boat so that she felt like the boat was still moving. And because there was nothing in sight in the vast ocean, not even lands or anything and just vast horizons, she honestly didn't notice that her boat had actually stopped moving and was stuck in that certain portion of the ocean because the creature held it down and swayed it as if she was still moving.

She guessed that this is a classic trap to hold her there until she ran out of supplies. It only took her a few days though before she actually noticed it. She was curiously eyeing the chakra holes which saved her life a few times now. The inventor specifically said that it was only meant to let her breath. She didn't know that it can make the boat toxic or that it can expel chakra if she touched it. She wondered if this was unknown to the inventor. She touched them again and immediately, she felt a strange energy disturbance under her boat. More confident about the chakra holes' capacity, she circulated her chakra towards the cause of disturbance. And immediately, the creature under her boat fled away.

Upon inspection, she realized that the holes were nothing more than a ventillation for air and chakra. She realized that perhaps it was her own abilities that saved her. In this situation, there was noone else who would save her. Perhaps it is with that situation that finally forced her abilities to wake up. She was glad that perhaps there was actually more to her than meets the eye. Although to control chakra however she wanted it to was not an ability that she knew she could do.

But her joyous excitement and determination would never prepare her for the last creature that she would encounter. Perhaps this was even the creature which caused all those travellers to never return again.

Sakura peered at the stack of supplies she had left. _Wow, I still have so much._ She thought as she checked the inventory. She purposely bought a lot because she didn't know how long her voyage would last. And upon calculation and observation, it didn't seem like she was nearing anywhere yet.

She thought about her village back home and how if she was there, she would probably be forced into Ichiraku by Naruto. Then she would be sharing a warm ramen with him. Or maybe she would be just hanging out with her bestfriend Ino, perhaps gossiping about potential hunks in town, or just giggling about random things. Maybe she could even play shogi with Shikamaru, even though she knew she would hopelessly lose anyway. Or she would eat barbecue with Chouji. Or she would tease Hinata about Naruto. She would listen to Shino's deep trivias about his bugs. She would run around with Kiba and Akamaru. She would compare weapons with Tenten. She would jokingly flirt with Lee. Or she would sit by the bench where Sasuke left her and await his return, with romantic dreams of emotional reunion.

She sighed. She missed her little village. But in all honesty, even though she had done nothing but brave across an unknown ocean and escape weird creatures, she was happy that she was finally doing something for herself. Someday, when she returns, she can share these stories to her friends even if she never finds anything here.

Suddenly, her boat started to rack.

 _Oh no. Another nuisance._ She thought as she quickly looked around. She spotted a head of a woman popping out of the water. The eyes of the girl peered at her curiously.

"Hello." The girl said, swimming closer to her. Sakura immediately backed away, cautiously observing the girl.

"Don't be afraid. It's just that I rarely see anyone around here." The girl said sweetly, indicating the open ocean with her arms.

Sakura cleared her throat. "I don't see anyone around here either. How are you here? Is there a land near already?" She quickly looked around, but to no avail. There was still nothing in sight.

"Oh, there's nothing above the water. But plenty below the sea." The girl said, gliding in the water contentedly. Sakura blinked at her, confused.

"Plenty below….what do you mean? Where did you come from? Perhaps you can help me. I need a place to stay, away from these waters." Sakura said, sighing with exhaustion.

The girl merely shook her head. "I live below the sea. Life above here is a mess. Don't you think?" The girl twirled around. Upon Sakura's curious glance, the girl lifted her legs up for Sakura to see. Or at least Sakura thought it was legs.

"You're a fish!" Sakura exclaimed, seeing the tail that the girl has lifted. The upper half of the girl's body was that of a woman, but her lower half, where the legs should have started was a big, long tail.

The girl giggled. "Mermaid. In the upper world, I'm called a mermaid."

Sakura shook her head. "I've never heard of one."

The girl raised her brows. "Well I've never heard of you. And soon…" The girl smiled wickedly. "You'll never know you."

Sakura immediately backed away. "Who are you?" Sakura said in a low calculating voice.

The girl's eyes turned radiant yellow. "My name is Joy. What's yours?"

Sakura thought about it, and decided that there was no harm in saying her name. It earns trust after all. "Sakura."

The moment she said her name, the girl's eyes turned black. Then it turned yellow again. Sakura felt a tingling sensation up her head. But she shook away the feeling, accounting it to the weird feelings she felt for meeting another weird creature.

"Where did you come from?" The girl asked curiously.

Sakura sighed, thinking of her village. "A village far away from here. It is a bright place, with lots of loving people. I've lived all my life there." The girl's eyes turned black, then yellow again. Sakura felt the tingling weirdness again.

"You have a lot of friends?" The girl asked. Then she smiled sadly. "Because I'm always so alone here. I don't have anyone."

Sakura felt like this was just her way of trying to coax an answer from her. But she didn't understand why because she didn't see what was so important with the question.

"I do have a lot of friends. I bet they're all waiting for me." She said.

"Why did you leave then?"

"Adventure. I need to find myself."

"What were you before this?"

"I'm a medic nin, a proud kunoichi." Sakura paused, feeling like the conversation was going nowhere.

"Listen, I have to go. I need to go on and…and…" Sakura blinked. Her mind felt cloudy. What was she going to do again? Why did she need to leave?

"Yes?" The girl asked, smiling wickedly.

"I….I need to do something." She said lamely, her forehead creasing. Her head felt strangely empty.

"You don't need to do anything. What you're doing is that you're coming with me." The girl said, pressing her palms on the glass boat.

"I do?" Sakura asked. This felt wrong. She struggled to remember. The girl laughed.

"Sister. You're confused. You were coming with me. You're just a little sick today. You don't even remember your name."

Sakura scowled indignantly. "Of course I do! You even just asked me that earlier! My name is…my name is…." Sakura gasped. She didn't remember.

"Sweetie. You're confused. Now open this boat and come with me. I'll help you remember. Come over now." The girl said warmly.

Sakura shook her head. "No. I know what I'm doing! I know who I am. I'm…I'm.. Wait, I know what I was going to do… I was going to…to… I know where I came from. I was from….uhmmm…"

The girl sighed. "Darling girl. Come now. There's no use to this."

Sakura clenched her fist. "You were just asking me those damn questions earlier! How could I have forgotten?!"

The girl rolled her eyes. "Well you have a stronger will than I give you credit for little girl. I never met anyone who was able to battle this confusion. People would usually automatically feel lost and accept my help. Now open this boat and let me help you." The girl licked her lips hungrily, her eyes shifting color again.

Sakura gasped. "That's it! Everytime I answered your question, your eyes change color. I forgot about the answers to everything you asked me, even my name. You were absorbing them away from my memories!"

The girl chuckled. "Clever girl. But now you will never remember them without me. Everything is with me. So now open up."

Sakura saw red. She was tired and exhausted. She didn't remember exactly why she even ventured in this journey but she honestly couldn't deal with this anymore. But at the very least, she atleast remembered her adventure as that wasn't sucked out from her mind. So she touched the boat's chakra holes and poured out all her desperation and exhaustion into it. She screamed, feeling all her power pour out. The mermaid immediately let go of contact with the boat, as if scorched. But before she could hide under the water, chakra strings grew out of the edges of the boat and wrapped themselves around the mermaid. She screeched loudly, almost making Sakura's ears bleed.

Her sweet form transformed from helpless little mermaid into a creature with blazing eyes, shifting colors so fast, her hair going in all directions, as if a strong wind was blowing them. Her skin became so wrinkled, as if she suddenly turned into an old lady. The chakra string started to suck out all the chakra from the mermaid. Sakura could feel it, she could feel the power surging in her. She didn't know how she was doing it, but she knew that she was able to fight for herself for once.

The screech of the mermaid grew louder and louder. Sakura flinched, tempted to let go of the chakra holes and cover her ears. But she held on, knowing that this might be her only to chance to defeat the memory-sucking mermaid. She closed her eyes and forced herself to continue what she was doing.

Until finally, she could no longer sense anyone's presence. When she opened her eyes, bubbles were surrounding her boat. The mermaid was no longer in sight. She let go of the chakra holes and exhaled in relief. She was so tired, as if she played tug of war with the terrifying mermaid.

She felt her memories back in her head, as if she was able to suck back her memories. But she still couldn't remember. She knew that she had to find a way to open her mind up to release the closed memories. But for now, she was contented that the threat is gone. She laid down on the floor her boat exhaustedly and finally let herself drift off to sleep.

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An annoying tapping sound snapped Sakura into consciousness.

 _Tap tap tap tap_

Sakura groaned. Her hands immediately go up to her head, feeling the intense pain.

"She's awake!" A gentle voice said. "Hey, Miss. Are you alright?"

 _Tap tap tap_

"Stop! Please, it hurts." She said, still not opening her eyes.

"Let's just leave." A deep voice said. "She obviously doesn't want help."

The gentle voice tutted in disapproval. "Of course she needs help, James. She's in pain."

The one with the deep voice, grunted, obviously displeased.

"Miss? I'm Calvin. I'm part of the police force. I can help you. Tell us how to open your door." The gentle voice said again.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes. Looming by the glass boat was 2 men, 2 god-like ultimately gorgeous men. Sakura had to stop herself from gaping.

One had wide chocolate brown eyes looking at her with concern. His face was pearly white but his cheeks were naturally rosy. She wondered how much redder it would be if he blushed. His golden hair was long, flowing down to his neck, but it was neatly brushed back. His lips was pinkish, full and plump, pouty, as if always asking to be kissed. He was thin, but lean. You know he was strong despite looking gentle. He was not as tall as his companion but he stood defined on his own. He noticed her watching him, so he smiled charmingly at her. Two adorable dimples showed as he smiled with perfect flashing teeth.

"Hi there!" He said kindly. _God, he's so pretty_. Sakura thought. _Calvin, that's what he said his name was._ The other man beside Calvin scoffed. She immediately turned her eyes to him. This other man was tall and intimidating. His skin was tan and it looked like his features were permanently fixed in a scowl. But nevertheless, he had thick brows that made him look fiercer, and a perfect nose that was not too pointed nor lumped. He had dark blue eyes, like the color of the ocean at night. His lips were a dark red and was currently turned down in a deep frown. His bronze hair was cropped short, as if it could not be bothered with. Unlike Calvin, he was muscular and intimidatingly big. But he looks strong and sexy in a dark way.

Sakura blinked and snapped herself out of her thoughts.

"Uhmmm…hi?" She said warily. She looked around. Her boat was in a shore somewhere. She was not sure where she was but it looked like she finally hit land. She shakily got on her feet.

"Are you lost? We're on our way to finish a mission. But if you need help, you can tag along with us for a while." Calvin said. The other guy immediately snapped his head to Calvin.

"We can't take her with us! She's going to be be a burden that we would unnecessarily need to watch. We need to focus on our mission!" He said in a booming voice.

Calvin glared back. "We can't leave her here! She's obviously lost and weak. She could die, James!"

The muscles on James' cheeks moved. Sakura knew that he wanted to say that he couldn't care less. But he probably couldn't say that out loud in front of his obviously compassionate teammate.

Sakura didn't want to be a burden. For some reason, being a burden seem to be a mortal sin to her. She couldn't remember why. But she knew she needed help as of the moment. She was absolutely lost and she also couldn't remember anything.

"I won't be a burden. Please, take me with you. I'll do my best to be of assistance." She said softly, moving towards the solid door of the boat. She opened it wide as a show of trust to the 2 men. Calvin smiled widely.

'There, there." He said, supporting her by holding her hand as she stepped out of the glass box.

James rolled his eyes. "You can't even stand on your feet. How are you going to be of assistance."

Sakura glared at him. "Then if it's a matter of succeeding in your mission and leaving me to die, I give you permission to choose the former."

James raised his brows. "That goes without saying."

Sakura bit her lip. This guy was really making her agitated.

"Ignore him, Miss. He's just grumpy today. Or all the time if you think about it."

Sakura gave the sweet guy a small smile.

"So!" Calvin said clapping as they started to go on their way. "What's your name?"

Sakura swallowed nervously. "Uhmmmm….I don't know."

She waited for the angry man to react and press the issue of her being a nuisance. And she didn't have to wait long.

"Ho! See that Callie! This girl is a handful. Let's just leave her here!"

Calvin punched James lightly. "Stop it Jamey. You're going to scare her off." He turned to Sakura. "Okay, miss. I guess I know why you came to us for help. You really are lost. For the time being, we need to call you something."

Calvin looked to the sky, deep in thought. James sighed, as if resigned to the situation. They were passing by a garden when James suddenly spoke up, his voice not as bitter anymore, but still not kind.

"Rose." He said.

"What?" She asked warily.

"Your name is Rose, for now." He said, not looking at her.

Calvin raised his brows. "Why Rose?" He asked curiously.

James pointed to a pink flower inside the garden that they were passing by.

"I see a pink rose. It's close to the color of her pink hair."

Sakura consciously touched her hair. _Rose._ She thought about it. She watched James stare straight ahead and realized that him naming her might be the start of him accepting her to be with them and not leave her dying alone, even though he might have done so grudgingly.

"Alright!" She said happily. "My name is Rose!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **A/N: The story is totally random don't you think? Well it's not really random. It will make sense, I promise haha. Calvin and James(Yes, English names. She ended up in the West remember? I guess I was trying to make it look like the countries in Naruto is in Asia. And that if put in the real world, Sakura travelled across the Pacific, going to the actual West.) are going to be vital characters in her other life. Yes. Other life. Anyway, let's get on with it.**

"So Rose, what is it like in your hometown?" The chocolate eyed man asked her.

She sighed. "I told you, I really don't remember."

Calvin regarded her with a sad smile. "That's so sad. Because I can tell you in detail how awesome our city is. It's home, you know!"

James rolled his eyes. "Don't go inviting her now. She can go on her way after she gains her strength."

Calvin nudged him. "Stop it Jamey, can't you see how hard this is for her"

"No. She's with us isn't she? It would be hard for her if we get her lost then leave her. Instead, we're playing baby sitter and taking care of her. How is that giving her a hard time?" He said matter of factly.

Calvin frowned. "Ignore him, Rose." He said, patting her affectionately. "I'll make sure you'll be fine."

James tutted and walked faster so he was ahead of them.

Rose scowled at him. "What is his problem?" She said, not bothering to lower her voice. "I haven't done anything wrong to him! If I wanted to do something to you guys then I would have done so already when you put me to watch duty last night!" It was quite the novelty too. James refused to sleep and stayed up for so long, not trusting Rose to guard them well through the night, until he fell asleep out of exhaustion. He was furious the next day because he thought he let his guard down and exposed them all to danger when he fell asleep. He only calmed down when Calvin sharply pointed out that none of them were harmed and it was all because of Rose staying up all night.

Calvin bit his lip. "I know, Rose. He's just a really sad kind of person."

"I heard that Cal." James said silkily.

Calvin laughed. "You'll get used to him Rose."

"I won't." James said under his breath, but loud enough to make sure Rose heard. Rose stared daggers at his back.

Calvin looked at the two and sighed.

"Well! Who's up for lunch!" He said brightly.

IDJSJDAOKS:AK:SLMDKSKDMLAMSLAKMS:LKMALDSLDM:AKS":ASA

Rose was stuck sitting behind a tree a few miles back. Calvin and James were going to sneak on their targets, and James had fiercely argued that she be left behind. She was shaking with frustration. She wanted to help, but she also knew that she had no right to insist on that. After all, they already helped her. The least she could do was not be a burden to them.

She looked at the sky and watched the clouds to calm her growing impatience. Somehow, being a burden didn't sit well with her. Maybe it had something to do with her past. Maybe she had always been a burden. She looked at her hands, wondering what she could do. Maybe James was right, perhaps she was just a weak nobody that was blessed to forget a miserable past.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her.

"Hello Princess." A masked man, looked down on her, holding a sharp pointed dagger against her neck. But before she could even start her scream, he had quickly punched the living daylights out of her. The last thing she saw was the man reaching down to take her.

KLASDJLKAJSLKAJSOAKODSJIDJSDILAJSOAJLDK:ASKD:ASOA

"Do you think Rose will be fine?" Calvin whispered, quickly glancing back to where they supposedly left Rose.

"Who cares." James said with no emotion. His eyes were trained to the spot where their target would appear.

"Focus Calvin." He said, annoyed.

Calvin frowned, worried. "But James, she might get in trouble."

"Then why did you take her with us? You know we're going to be hunting criminals." James said, not taking his attention away from the spot.

Calvin scratched his golden hair. "She'll get in more trouble if we left her."

James rolled his eyes. "You are such an idiot."

Suddenly, they heard movement from the bushes near the spot.

"Remember the plan Cal." James said quietly. He crouched, preparing himself.

Calvin nodded. "When have I not."

As their targets appeared, James immediately sprang into action. In a blinding flash, James appeared beside one of the men, delivering a quick thunderous punch. The man was immediately knocked out. The others jumped back, but before they even landed on their feet, suddenly, a force pushed them back towards their attacker. They looked back to see who pushed them but the clearing was empty aside from them. Another one was brought down by James. The other men turned and started to run. But once again, a force seemed to push them back. They felt a cold touch on their skin as they were pushed back. They realized that it was the wind. Quickly scanning their surroundings, they spotted Calvin by the bushes, raising a stick, and it looked like he was manipulating the wind to keep forcing them towards James. Cursing under their breaths, James reached another one of them and was knocked out again.

James saw the last few of them and slowly started making his way towards them. The strong wind was blocking the men's path to escape. No matter how hard they pushed against the wind, the pressure was too strong to cross. The criminals panicked, seeing that they either face James or the strong wind.

The latter seemed like a better idea. They huddled together and tried to formulate a plan to stop the wind. Basically, wind was always weak against fire. Two of them could manipulate fire but the wind was too strong for just them. Then they realized that the secret scroll they stole from the city contained secrets about the manipulation of fire. They could use that for now to help their survival.

One of them immediately summoned the scroll into appearing, glad of their newfound plan. But as soon as the scroll appeared, a blinding flash made all of them shield their eyes. The next moment, James was by Calvin's side, holding the scroll.

"W-w-what happened?" The thief demanded, waving his fist shakily towards them.

James smirked. "Come on Cal, let's get out of here."

Cal politely waved and started to turn away when somebody spoke.

"You, my men, are complete idiots." A gruff voice said, more amused than disappointed. The men immediately knelt and bowed their heads. "We're sorry master! But we think they tricked us!"

A man with a mask now appeared. He was big and dirty. His head was shining bald, and his eyes were brimmed red, twinkling with amusement. In his arms was a big sack, and he carefully laid it down on the floor as he regarded Calvin and James.

"You think they tricked you? How dense can you be? They really tricked you." The man sighed. "They forced you to reveal the scroll. They made you choose between two formidable dangers, but they sneakily made one of the options more appealing. Of course, holding the scroll of fire, you think that the option where you have to face wind is more appealing. We hid the scroll effectively by a technique that would allow no one else but us to summon it. But by revealing the scroll, they had an easy chance to take it away from you."

The other men mumbled their apology, quite embarrassed of the simple trickery.

"We would love to stay and watch you scold your idiotic men but we have more important people to talk to." James said, starting to turn away again.

"Oh but you won't young lad. Because it's not only me that has idiotic acquaintances." He kicked the sack, causing it to open, and it revealed a tied up Rose, squirming, trying to release herself.

James groaned. "See Cal!" He shouted angrily. "This is what I'm talking about!"

Calvin looked at Rose, horrified. "Rose! Hang on, we'll be there okay?" He quickly raised his stick. But the man put his foot on a delicate part of her neck. "One wrong move." He said nastily. "And I break her neck."

James cursed under his breath. Calvin grabbed his arm. "James." He whispered, tensed, not taking his eyes off Rose.

James glared at the man. "I know, Cal."

"Now." The man said, reaching out his arm. "You know the drill. Give me the scroll."

James slowly walked to the man, the scroll firmly grasped in his hands. The earlier terrified men were now jeering at him. James blocked them out from his senses and kept his focus on the man who had his foot placed solidly on Rose's neck on the ground.

James gently placed the scroll at the tip of the man's fingers. But not even a millisecond lasted and the next thing everyone knew was that James had kicked the leg of the man that was on Rose. After another millisecond, James was at Rose's side.

"Get up." He hissed. Rose forced herself to sit up. But as she stood, her legs shook and she fell right back to the ground. James scoffed. The man's eyes turned pale and the next thing they knew, he conjured a massive rock, the size of a small building, and threw it at them. James immediately raised his hand, the clouds huddled together in the sky and a flash of lightning directly hit the rock. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to break it. James moved quickly to stand infront of Rose. The rock hit them and they were catapulted to some distance away.

"JAMES! ROSE!" Calvin screamed. He started running towards them but James raised his hand to stop Calvin.

"Stay there Cal. It's not safe here." James said, a hand pressed to his chest.

Calvin shook his head frantically. "But-"

"I said no Cal. One step here and I'll throw you." James started coughing, then he spit out blood in disgust.

"James! Are you alright?" Rose asked, her voice in a high chirp caused by nerves.

"We should have just left you out there. You're nothing but a weak burden." He said, his arms shaking as he pushed himself up. Blood was trickling from his head. He was covered in dirt and he had lots of gashes from the fall.

"Then why do you keep saving me!" Rose cried out, clutching herself. She was right, she was nothing but a weak girl.

"Because I can." James said simply. He stood infront of Rose again and faced the man. The man glared evilly at them, disappointed that they were not dead yet. He conjured up a much bigger rock than earlier, this time the size of a small hill, and threw it at them in massive speed. Before James can move, Rose pushed him out of the way.

"ROSE NO!" They could Calvin's horrified shriek.

James watched the rock made its way towards Rose in horror. But at the last second, she pulled back and brought her fist towards the rock. The rock crumbled into pieces, broken by Rose's strong punch. Calvin's mouth dropped open in surprise. Rose ran towards them. She sat beside James and put her hands over his wounds. A green light emanated from her hands and James felt himself healing.

"This green light, that's Chakra." He said. "You're a shinobi, or a kunoichi as a woman shinobi." He stated, not even asking. Rose shrugged. "I don't need your help James. I'm stronger than you."

James laughed with scorn. "Aww that's so cute. But little girl, I just made a mistake earlier. I underestimated the strength of that rock. But you'll always be a weakling compared to me. I'm the son of the sky. Nothing can stop me." He pushed Rose's healing hand away. He moved his head side to side and raised one of his hands towards the sky. Lightning stroke his hand, and the next moment, he was grasping a brilliant cackling sword.

The enemy stepped back, frightened at the magnificent death weapon that James conjured. "Now, watch and learn." He said with a quick glance at her. He put one foot back and threw the lightning sword like a javelin, so fast that it looked like it disappeared. And then suddenly, everything on the other side of them exploded.

Fire started to spread and there was nothing but silence. It seemed like their enemies exploded into ash upon contact of the death sword.

Calvin run towards Rose. He gently touched her head and made a quick inspection of her body. "Are you okay?"

"Fire." She whispered, her eyes on the blazing fire that was starting to spread around the forest, still too shocked.

Calvin glanced at James and rolled his eyes, muttering "overkill" under his breath. He raised his stick and then suddenly, rain started to pour. The fire started slowly going out.

"Here." Calvin said, offering his hand to Rose. "Let me help you get up."

Rose shook her head. "No, I'm fine." She struggled to sit up. But with much effort, she was finally able to stand on her own.

James walked back towards them, showing them the scroll. "Mission accomplished." Was all he said before he started walking away. Calvin politely gestured Rose to go on before he walked with her.

Silence engulfed the three of them as they were walking.

"So!" Calvin said after some time. "You're a shinobi?"

Rose shrugged. "I guess? I don't know. The situation forced me to open one part of me I guess. I think I know what I can do now."

"That's awesome!" Calvin gleefully said. "So you're like a person who wields elemental energy and transform it into offensive power?"

Rose nodded absently. She was still trying to remember after all. But she guessed that that was basically it.

"What about you?" She asked eventually. "What's with the stick? I mean no offense."

Calvin laughed. "None taken." He pulled out his stick and waved it infront of her. "I'm a witch. I wield power from ancient spirits by calling out curses that summon their powers."

"Er- a witch? Witches are real?" Rose said, shocked.

Calvin raised his brows at her. "Don't you have witches at home?"

Rose lifted her shoulders, indicating that she had no idea.

Calvin shrugged as well. "We don't have shinobi either. Stories say that most shinobi is hidden somewhere in this world. You're probably a lost one if you ended up here."

"What is 'here'" Rose asked curiously.

Calvin grinned. "We're almost at the city! You'll see."

James turned to them, an exasperated look on his face. "So we're really bringing her?" he said.

Rose pouted at him and angrily crossed her arms.

Calvin shook his head at his teammate. "James, you're such a snob. She's a shinobi James! She needs help. We're sure now that she's most definitely lost."

James narrowed his eyes. "Well let's just drop her by the President's office and let's not see her ever again."

Rose scowled. "I'm here you know! And what's with your air! What are you anyway, for you to be so proud?"

James ignored her and continued walking.

Rose growled in anger. Calvin gently touched her shoulder.

"Sorry Rose. James must be tired."

"What is he?" Rose insisted, keeping her glare directed at his back.

Calvin sighed. "He's the son of the sky. The last of the two remaining."

"What does that even mean? Son of the sky?" Rose said in annoyance.

Calvin smiled at her. "Legends say that once, there was a great man who controlled the sky. He was called the God of the sky. His bloodline is passed through of course and created a family greater than most in the West countries. They have the ability to control elements in the sky, and if pushed to their greatest extents, it was said that they might even be able to control the sky itself. Although no one of their bloodline has ever done it before. James here is one of the last two of their bloodline."

Rose gaped at James' back. _No wonder he's so airy. Son of the sky, indeed_. She rolled her eyes. _Doesn't give him the excuse to act so high and mighty._

Rose huffed. "Hmp. Suits him well, being son of the sky, his head is full of air."

James turned a glare at her. She glared back.

Calvin raised his hands. "Guys. Stop it. Let's be civil so that we can get home quicker."

Rose sighed. "Where is home?" She asked no one in particular, looking miserable.

"Well if your legs are more useful than the rest of your poorly coordinated body, then perhaps you'll get to see it quicker." James said blankly, his back facing her.

Rose was going to scowl at him but she noticed Calvin grin at her. She then realized that behind the insult James said, he also implied that she can call their city home.

Rose smiled at James' back. Perhaps he was not such a demon after all.

IJWDLPOAKDOPWKDOKDFKODJSOJDPOADEJWSDKPO

Soon, they started to approach a magnificent gate.

And Rose could do nothing but gape at everything she saw beyond it. There were kids playing all around. But that was not what was weird. Some kids had wings. Some had fur like that of a dog's. Some were gliding at the ground smoothly.

More than that were the people in general. Or most of them looked like people. There was a giant who was carefully walking through the city, trying not to step in anything. There were people who had several eyes, or one eye. There was someone who was completely blue. One was just a round ball with a big mouth across its lower half. There was someone who Rose was sure is a fox, but he was standing on two legs and holding a newspaper.

There were adults flying around the sky, looking busy. Well they were either flying or mounting a broom or standing on a floating rock. And so much more.

But there were also a lot of normal looking people. But the weird thing was none of them seemed to care about the extraordinary things that went on around them. They just walked alongside the weird as if it was another ordinary day.

Rose blinked several times, trying to wake herself up from this weird dream.

"Uhmmm Calvin." She said softly.

"Rose come on! We need to go to the President." Calvin said giddily.

"Calvin hit me."

"Er- Sorry, what?"

"Come on- just one punch-AW! What in the hell James?!" Rose wailed, glaring at James who has struck her on the head.

James shrugged. "You're being stupid. Now come on."

As James started walking across the street, a bunch of female…creatures ? started squealing after him.

"JAMES! Look girls James is home!" They chorused happily.

"JAMES LOOK HERE!"

"JAMES MARRY ME!"

"OMG JAMES" Then somebody threw their bra at him.

Quickly, Calvin appeared beside James and caught the bra easily, throwing it with more force than necessary back to the thrower. For the first time, Rose caught Calvin looking annoyed. But it was only a flash, because in the next second, Calvin was smiling radiantly at the girls.

"Hello my beautiful ladies." He said smoothly.

Suddenly, the girls squealed so loudly that Rose thought the glass on stores around them would break.

"CALVIN, OUR PRINCE!" They chanted, clinging to Calvin. Calvin just laughed and flashed them an adorable dimpled smile. Some of the girls fainted.

Rose looked on, amused.

"Ohkay." She said, trying not to laugh.

"Is it always like this?" She asked James. For some reason, the girls didn't have the courage to throw themselves at him like they did with Calvin.

James shrugged. "If you pretend they're not there, they disappear."

Rose raised her brows. "No they don't."

James' lips twitched. "If they don't then I make them disappear." Rose then understood why nobody dared to go near James.

As they neared the President's office, Calvin then apologetically said his goodbyes to the ladies. The girls cried and wailed but they lovingly let him go. James waited patiently, as if this happened all the time. Rose shook her head in amusement.

"Let's go!" Calvin said too brightly his wide smile looking a little brittle.

Rose narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do I have the feeling that you didn't like that kind of attention at all?"

Calvin laughed awkwardly. "I don't know what you're talking about." Then he went on ahead quickly. Rose blinked at him, weirded out. James chuckled. "Wow, someone who saw through his perfection for once." He said.

Rose looked at him curiously. "It's just the first time that I saw him plaster a fake smile. He's always really kind to me."

James nodded. "Well it's because you're not throwing yourself at him."

Rose frowned. "But he entertains them on his own!"

James lifted his shoulders. "I don't know why he does. I told him to just ignore them like I do."

Rose silently thought that ignoring those half crazed girls wouldn't really keep the girls away, no matter how scary James looked or no matter how much he tried to threaten them since everyone probably knew that he wasn't going to hurt them for real. If Calvin and James ignored the girls, they would swarm over the both of them. But since Calvin was so actively flirting with them, the girls were pretty distracted enough to keep their attention away from the gloomy James. Rose remembered the flash of annoyance on Calvin's face when somebody threw a bra at James.

Then it hit her. Rose was pretty sure that Calvin was entertaining the girls to keep them away from James.

Rose smiled at the realization. "Ah."

James looked at her. "Are you gay?"

Rose laughed. "What in the world James? Is this your way of asking why I'm not in love with you two gorgeous pigs?"

Suddenly, Calvin skipped back to them, slowing down so they all walk together.

"Yeah Rose! I'm curious too! Do you have a boyfriend back home?" He said, grinning at her.

Rose sighed. "For the last time, I don't know. But you know, I have a feeling I might have someone back home."

James raised his eyebrows at her. "How do you know that? Are you starting to remember? Can we get rid of you now?"

Rose ignored him. "If I think hard enough, I can see something from before."

James and Calvin stepped closer to her in curiosity.

"What do you see?" Calvin asked, his eyes wide.

"A fan. Divided in the middle, with the top colored red and the bottom colored white. It's like a symbol. "She sighed dreamily.

Calvin scratched his head. "How does that translate to a love interest?"

Rose bit her lip. "Well that symbol is embroidered on somebody's back. Someone wearing blue, with that symbol on his back. I remember always looking at it from behind. Then I can feel this great longing on my chest whenever I look at it. I don't really understand. "

Calvin grabbed her arms. "Whose back do you think it is?" He asked excitedly.

Rose shook her head. "I don't know. It's always just the back."

Calvin frowned. "Must be unrequited love." He looked down, deep in thought.

Rose nudged him. "Hey, don't worry. I don't remember anyway. What I don't know won't hurt me."

Calvin laughed.

Soon, they were infront of the President's door. Rose felt nervous.

Calvin held her hand and squeezed it. "You'll be fine. We'll vouch for you."

James scoffed. "Speak for yourself." Then he opened the door.

 **A/N: Okay I wanted to end this chapter quick because supposedly, the end of this chapter should have been Sakura/Rose returning back to Konoha already. But I really do have to build on the three's relationship. I guess her return should happen on the next chapter. Don't get impatient on me guys okay? I promise, this new variety world that Sakura entered won't be where the story will revolve around in. It will still be Konoha and the people there. Well unless you ask me to elaborate. Love lots.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **A/N: Do I update too fast? It's my first fanfiction so I'm excited. I think the chapters are very long though. But it's because in reality, I wanted to make Sakura come back to Konoha at the first chapter even. I didn't know that developing the character and the plot would be a little bit complicated. Anyway, I hope if anyone is reading this, you can help me finish this story by writing reviews. I won't require them I promise. I'm just saying that it would help. Anyway, thank you! Let's do the chapter 3.**

The room was just breath taking. One side of the wall was completely glass so that it overlooked the whole city. And now looking at it from a high view, Rose decided that the city was indeed gorgeous. So many colors and so lively. The room was spacious with a soft carpet covering the whole floor. There was a large aquarium and there she saw a mini version of that human fish who attacked her. Rose flinched at the sight and stepped away.

At the far end of the room was where all the work is. There were about 10 bookshelves filled with towering books and there were about 15 desks filled with cluttered papers. The seats behind the desks seemed to be occupied just a few minutes before but now everything is deserted. But at the center of the room is what looked like a water chair. It was a chair that was semi aquarium. Water was seen inside the transparent cloth. Small fishes of different colors swam around inside it. There was a classic wooden desk in front of the chair and it was immaculately clean.

"I hope you're not judging me." A voice said behind Rose. Rose jumped in surprise and quickly turned to see a warm elderly man with twinkling eyes smile at her. He was wearing an expensive suit so he looked like an important person. However, he had the kindest smile on his lips so Rose immediately felt comfortable with him.

"Well, I've never seen you around before." He said. He flicked his hand, then a chair seemed to appear out of nowhere. "Please, have a seat."

James stomped his foot. "Why does she always get special treatment?!"

Calvin laughed. "Awww are you jealous Baby James?"

James rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

Rose sighed. "Well you can take the seat then if you're so weak and tired to remain standing?"

James glared at her. Rose smirked.

The man smiled at them "Ah, a woman who's not intimidated by James. That's new."

Calvin raised his eyes to the heavens. "Tell me about it gramps! These two have been bickering since forever!" He complained.

The man turned to her. "But as you are the visitor, my dear, don't be shy now. Please take a sit."

Rose nodded politely and graciously took her seat.

The man also took a sit on his water chair. He extended a hand to her and tilted his head. "I am President Brown, the head of Salve City. In common terms, Salve means Welcome."

Rose glanced out the window. "I can see that." She stated as she took note of the colors, representing the different "kinds" of people that resides in the city. "Oh, my name is Rose." She shook his hand, just noticing that it was still extended towards her.

Brown chuckled. "Is it that surprising? It is true that we are the most welcoming country in the West. But the other countries are at the very least tolerant if not totally accepting."

Rose shook her head. "Maybe I didn't come from the West." She whispered. But Brown heard her. He looked at Calvin and James curiously.

James cleared his throat. "We'll explain later. It's complicated. That's why I keep telling you guys to just throw her out."

Calvin nudged him and looked at him, reprimanding.

Brown clapped his hands. "Well I always like a good story! Besides, Calvin already briefed me on some things about your situation. You don't remember anything, is that right?"

Rose nodded.

"But I shall ask you later my dear one, okay?" He said, regarding Rose kindly. Rose just smiled politely.

Brown turned his attention back to James and Calvin.

"So. Report?"

James pulled out the scroll that they had retrieved and handed it to Brown. "It was stolen by a gang of thieves, just the usual common amateurs who only has a touch or two of powers. However, their head was none other than Rocky who was branded a criminal by his own hometown La Vien just three years ago."

Brown's forehead creased. "Curious. Do we know what he needed from the scroll?"

Calvin raised his hand. "No sir. Some of us just had to destroy our leads in the quest of proving his supremacy." At this, he stared daggers at James, who pursed his lips and glared back.

"Ah. He burned someone again?" Brown asked, looking amused. Calvin and Rose both nodded quickly, looking like children trying to tell on their older, meaner brother.

James' expression turned sour. He turned his back on them and crossed his arms, obviously offended.

Brown sighed. "Well we just have to send this scroll back to La Vien and tell them to protect it extra carefully. We don't know the motives or who exactly are we watching out for but at least we are able to return the scroll back to them. James, Calvin, up for another trip? After this, I promise to give you a break."

Calvin whooped. "Yay! You're on gramps!"

James shrugged lazily and started making his way towards the door.

But Calvin approached Brown excitedly. "Can we take Rose with us? She's a shinobi Mr. Brown! A real shinobi! She punched Rocky's rock with her small fist and it crumbled to dust!"

James shook his head and didn't even turn to look at them. "Get real Cal, Rose will never measure to us." With that, he walked out the door.

Calvin pouted. "Don't listen to him Rose, you'll be a perfect addition to our team! Gramps, consider it please! I wouldn't take one step out that gate if you don't send Rose with us!" And with that, he saluted graciously and skipped out the door.

Rose smiled at Calvin's disappearing form. "He's such a sweet guy. Unlike that jerk with an ass for a face." She said under her breath. Unfortunately, Brown heard her. He laughed loudly.

"Calvin is right. You would make their team livelier. They seem to have taken a liking on you too." He said, watching her.

She shifted, a little bit shy. "Maybe Calvin does. But James…..I don't think he likes me."

Brown raised his brows. "So are you uncomfortable with James?"

Rose thought about it, but then she shook her head. "No. I think James is secretly kind. No matter what he said about leaving me to die, he still keeps saving me. And no matter how much he pretends to have no care in the world, he genuinely worries about anything or anyone in danger, especially his team. Maybe he just doesn't recognize my strength yet so he acts like I'm a helpless victim than a friend he can depend on." The words sounded bitter to her mouth, as if she already said that before.

Brown nodded approvingly. "Well it seems you got a good measure on their team. However, James and Calvin are one of my strongest police force out there. If you are indeed a little bit weaker, James would be right in saying that you might just end up pulling them down."

Rose clenched her fist. "Yeah you're right. I don't think I'm up to scratch compared to them yet. But Mr. Brown, does this mean you're actually going to give me position in your police force? Because I have nothing else to do. I don't have a home, I don't remember anything. I don't have family or friends. I have absolutely no value here. I'm not sure where I should place myself. But if I know anything, it is that I am a shinobi. And I have the power to help others, even though I'm still weaker than most."

Brown nodded thoughtfully. "Calvin mentioned your situation to me a little before I spoke to you. You really don't remember anything?"

Rose nodded, suddenly feeling exhausted.

"We would need to verify that, is that okay with you?" Brown said, taking a piece of chocolate from a suspicious looking jar. He gave one to her and watched her take a bite without hesitation. She figured that this was a sort of test, but she wished that it wouldn't end up killing her. She seemed to be in a lot of tests on trust lately.

"Are you telling the truth?" Brown asked, eyeing her carefully.

Rose swallowed then instantly said "Yes."

Brown sighed. "Well that was a chocolate injected with a truth serum. I guess you really are lost."

He folded his hands together and looked at her. "What do you want to do, Miss Rose? Who named you that by the way."

"James." She said simply. The old man smiled at her. She cleared her throat. "Well I obviously want to know about my past. And I will work on it. In the mean time, I want to be part of this force. I want to help people since I feel the power that allows me to do just that surging within me. I want to be of use, even when I'm being lost. I don't want to be a burden." _There's that word again_ , she thought.

Brown nodded. "That's great. I guess I would have my two strongest force to watch over you. But remember, you have to work hard so as not to drag them down." Brown clicked his tongue. "A shinobi, heavens, I have never known one actually exist. Your lost bloodline would be one of the most powerful, did you know?"

"Er-what?" Rose asked, curious.

Brown clapped his hands. "I have read many books about shinobi. They are indeed powerful with their chakra manipulation. Although the kind of chakra they can manipulate can usually just extend to the nature of their specialty. Perhaps 2 or 3 if they work hard enough." Rose smiled at the old man.

"Wow you seem to have read a lot about us."

Brown chuckled. "Dear girl, you are supposed to be just a legend! The great dangerous oceans prevent us from ever crossing. Legend has it that in the north lives the royalty of the feeders of blood. They are elite, strong, fast and perfectly stunning. They cloak themselves on the disguise of a human form. In those lands, they preserve their secret of being such creatures to continue feeding on their prey, which is the human being. Then at the isolated south is the land of the devil. Doing good over there is against their law. If you express kindness, you get thrown in jail. The law is to be as evil as you can. And from that principle, the most hideous and dangerous monsters and creatures, some are even said to be born from the devil himself, lives. Then there is the great West, which is us of course. We are the open gates of all the lands. We accept practically any creature and gain our strength from them. Although we never had blood feeders, or sons of devils, or shinobi. Except for those three, we welcome all forms of life and develop them into assets of the community. There is strength in number and kinds. And of course, there is the lands of the shinobi. Pure and strong, their power sourced from elemental energy, with creative manipulation that will take 10 lifetimes to master. Of course, all of those are just legends and myths. Until you came along! You are proof that at least one of those legends are true! Now come here."

Brown was so excited his face was turning red by the second. He pulled out a small piece of paper and practically shoved it into her hands.

The paper glowed into gold. Brown's eyes widened in surprise. He froze and stared at Rose.

Rose shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Brown just stared at her for a long time, until Rose couldn't take the suspense anymore. She held the glowing paper up.

"What does this mean?" She asked, watching the pretty glowing paper.

Brown caught his breath and shook his head in disbelief. "You…this is impossible…."

Rose bit her lip nervously. "What is?"

Brown pointed at the paper. "That is a paper made from a special type of tree and fed with chakra. So if it is exposed to the slightest hint of chakra, it will react depending on what type you are. Either fire, wind, lightning, earth, or water."

Rose nodded. "Okay. And? So what am I?"

Brown kept shaking his head. "If you are fire, then the paper will ignite and turn into ash. If you are wind, the paper will split in two. If you are lightning, the paper will wrinkle. If you are earth, the paper will turn to dirt. If you are water, then the paper will become damp."

Rose stared at him, then indicated the glowing paper. "But mine is just glowing!"

Brown stared at her in disbelief. "Calvin said you have a super strength and you are a medic nin. What else can you do?"

Rose shook her head. "As far as I know, that's it."

"God you are too held back." He said sadly.

Rose tutted, annoyed now. "Tell me what this means."

Brown shrugged. "Well if what I read was right, that means there are no restrictions to you. You can practically manipulate anything as long as there is chakra. You, my dear, is the lost bloodline of the shinobi."

Rose looked at Brown thoughtfully, not really understanding. "Mmhmm."

Brown sighed. "It's either you forgot because you have amnesia. Or you really don't know your own strength."

Rose tilted her head. "You make me sound super awesome. But I don't know. If my feeling is right, I have always been a burden."

"Hmm." Brown said, thinking. He stood up and walked towards one of the weird closet looking door. It was made of metal and it looked suspicious, like that jar of chocolate. "I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes."

Rose hesitated. But if she wanted these people to trust her, then she should start showing that she was open to trusting them too. She closed her eyes.

The sound of the door being open resounded, and the next thing she knew, Brown's palm touched her back and she was propelled inside. She immediately felt the scorching heat around her.

 _Hot hot hot hot!_ Rose jumped, and she had to keep jumping. Even the floor was burning her feet. She saw her skin start to redden.

"What the- Brown! What are you doing?!" She screamed. It was too hot. Fire engulfed the room, everywhere was burning orange. She closed her eyes, it hurt.

Then she heard Brown's voice somewhere. "You know the 5 basic elements and their weaknesses right?"

"YES" She screamed desperately.

"Then you know what to do." The speaker turned off. And suddenly, she felt all alone.

 _Fire. Fire is weak against water. But am I even a water element? Damn it._

She forced her eyes to open. Her body started shivering from desperation. If she didn't do anything, she would die.

 _Water water water water._ She chanted, not really knowing what to do with water. Her eyes were starting to close again because of heat but she pried them open as wide as she could. And then she saw it. As if in slow motion, she could see it. Chakra. Chakra everywhere, in different forms and in different colors. There was dominant chakra bright orange and licking every surface it touched. There was the chakra of burning air. The chakra of the things that weren't burned yet. Every composition and every chakra disturbing the scientific composition of things, she could see it.

 _Water_. She thought again, as she clutched her throat. She felt incredibly thirsty in the dehydrated room. She once read in a simple science book how the water cycle works. There were complicated processes in scientific words. But she remembered that simply, it was by collecting humidity and converting it into liquid through a simple process of condensation. In her slow motion eyes, she could see as if in zoom the little humidity left in the room. She took a deep breath, and focused her energy in the spots where she could feel the humidity. She was not exactly sure how she could manipulate them. But she remembered the way she could transfer chakra anywhere on her body and circulate them the way she wants to. She also remembered her desperate times at the boat where she forced her chakra out in the chakra holes and manipulated them in a way that could save her. With that, she summoned all her will power into controlling the energy chakra attached to the humidity and collected them. She also remembered exactly how condensation works because of that book she read before. She manipulated the chakra into doing the process. And just before her skin burned, a burst of water appeared and splashed on the whole room in a big tidal wave. Rose was so glad that the heat was gone that she didn't really care that she got drenched.

But before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, the room started to rain. Yes, it started to rain. With the water she already conjured, the water level was already at her waist. The rain started to fall stronger. Rose knew that if she didn't do anything, the water would reach the ceiling and she would drown.

 _Damn it! What is that old geezer doing!_

She focused on the room again, knowing that there was no time to panic. Apparently, Brown was trying to force out her strength by killing her.

 _Okay, focus. Water is weak against earth. But damn! How am I supposed to conjure earth just moments after I did water. Im not a God!_

She looked around her desperately. Water was getting in her eyes and nose. She started swimming up and forcing her eyes to open. Then suddenly, she saw it again, the circulation of chakra and the composition of everything around the room. Feeling familiar, she decided to rely on what she knew.

 _Okay, Earth. I can make do with soil. Soil is composed of organic materials, water and air. I already have water and there is air here. I need organic materials. So it could be compost, plant or animal waste, decomposed materials….._

She went all science in her head. She thanked her lucky stars that she seemed to be a well-read individual in her past. Knowing things makes it easier to know exactly what to conjure and how to combine and manipulate chakra into creating things.

After analyzing the components of the earth carefully, and watching with wide eyes the chakra swirling in the room, she focused her energy into recreating the process that she made in her head about the creation of soil. And sure enough, Soil appeared in abundance, tampering over the water and halting its progress in filling the room.

Still no time to breath, she started to sink in the earth.

 _SH** MOTHER F*CK*ING *( *# !*#) (#) *!)( !#_

She quickly calmed herself down after the initial surprise. After all, after the two trials, she knew exactly what to do now. She focused and soon she could see the chakra around her again. And luckily, she seemed to also know about the other elements and how they worked.

The suicidal exercise allowed her to conjure lightning to stop the earth, wind to stop lightning, and fire to overpower the wind.

Afterwards, she fell on her knees and collapsed.

The door of the room finally opened to reveal President Brown, who was grinning down on her.

"Dearest Girl-" he exclaimed. But before he could say anything else, she kicked his legs and he fell alongside her. She mounted him and wrapped her hands around his neck.

"WHAT'S THE BIG F**KING IDEA! I COULD HAVE DIED!" She said, clutching him.

The old man chuckled. "But you didn't" He said matter of factly. "And I proved my point. You are flexible. You can manipulate anything!"

Rose sighed and let go of him. She laid on her back and stared at the ceiling, exhausted. "That's not entirely true. I needed to know about things before I can actually manipulate them. If I didn't know what makes up soil for example, I wouldn't be able to create it."

The old man nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe that's the reason why you're a lost bloodline. Stand up dear child. We have some talking to do."

Rose grumbled. But she stood in the end. She needed answers after all. She was way beyond her limit though, so another surprise exercise and she was strangling this leader to death.

The old man looked at her. "You know you can just absorb chakra if you're tired."

Rose shook her head. "No I can't. I need to be a Sage to do that." How she knew that, she didn't know. But she knew that was how it works.

Brown shook his head. "But you're not an ordinary shinobi. You can control chakra and manipulate it however you want. That means you can absorb chakra without doing the drill of standing still or worrying about having too much of it, like what a sage should normally do. Go on, try it."

Rose glared at him. "If I turn into a frog…"

"Frog?" Brown asked, confused. Rose shrugged. She didn't know why frog is her reference. She remembered someone who was bright orange who had a loud, voice talking about turning into a frog if he absorbed chakra carelessly. But the image in her head was so blurry and the voice was garbled that it made her head hurt. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.

She felt the chakra around her and absorbed them as Brown told her to.

 _Okay, that was easy._ She thought as she felt herself stronger and energized again.

"Okay, now spill." She said, sitting at her chair and staring at Brown.

Brown nodded, smiling. "I don't know everything okay? But I can only tell you so much. For every creature, there is a lost bloodline. Why should there be someone lost every time and everywhere? I don't know. Must be a shared fate. After all, great power is always shunned and feared. Destiny must always try to push it away so that they remain lost. The lost bloodline would always contain the strongest power among the creatures of that kind. Like for example, James' brother holds the lost bloodline for the sons of gods."

Rose blinked at him. "James' brother?"

Brown stared into space, lost in thoughts. "Yes. James' brother has the capacity to control the sky. And he almost did once. When I saw him attempt to do it, I knew he holds the lost bloodline. And he will be stronger than any son of god out there. If he dies, then it dies along with him. But if he reproduces, then the secret terrifying bloodline lives on."

"Where is he then?" Rose asked.

Brown shook his head sadly. "We don't know. After the tragedy on their whole kind, he just disappeared."

Rose gaped at him. "Tragedy on their….Calvin once told me that James is the last of the two sons of gods."

Brown nodded. "Yes. He and his brother is the last."

For some reason, Rose felt like he heard a similar story like this before. "Okay, anyway.." She said, urging Brown to go on.

Brown cleared his throat. "So there are lost bloodlines on every kind. Well unless it died down. There is one for the monsters, one for the people who control consciousness, one for the witches, one for the sons of demons, one for the werewolves, one for the earth guardians, one for the son of god, one from the blood feeders, and one from the shinobi. I don't know if there are still others, but those are the major kinds of special people with special power. Of course the holder of the bloodline always seem to be lost as well. Nobody can find them. Your bloodline as a shinobi on the other hand is just more adorable than mysterious."

Rose raised her brows at him.

Brown chuckled. "The shinobi are interesting people. I like reading about you. Well I wonder if you're familiar with the story of Kaguya Otsutsuki."

Rose twitched. She felt like she knew this story from before.

"You know." Brown said. "There was a time a few years ago when the people from the whole Western countries fell into a deep slumber. I wondered if it was Kaguya. We always wondered about that weird phenomenon. The moon and the sky turned weird. I thought it was James' brother. But it was different."

Rose raised her shoulders, not really remembering.

Brown sighed. "I wish you remember."

Rose bowed her head, also disappointed that despite everything, she really couldn't remember anything. "I'm sorry."

Brown tapped her affectionately. "Don't worry, it's fine. Well anyway. So Kaguya has 2 sons right? Hamura and Hagoromo. Together, they defeated their mother who became the ten tailed monster. Anyway, Hagoromo Otsutsuki is known to your world as the Sage of Six paths, the god of the shinobi, because alongside being the first Jinchuriki who kept the ten tails sealed within him, he was also the one who spread chakra and its ideals, known as ninshu which will eventually become ninjutsu. So, Hagoromo has 2 sons, Indra and Asura. As you know, or actually you don't, Hagoromo would choose the loving son Asura to be his successor instead of the talented one Indra. And they would start to wage war. Anyway, unknown to all, Hagoromo has another child, Heiwa. In common terms, it means peace. Well, it's not really unknown to all. Just to us right now because everyone just naturally remembers the 2 brothers. Nobody cares about the sweet peace loving sister who dedicated her life to reducing the damage that her brothers caused. She inherited the original powers not only of her father but also of Kaguya. She has control of the environment and dimensions and ultimately a lot of otherworldly powers. She was said to be stronger than both her brothers if she really tried. However, she will spend her life trying to stop her brothers from fighting, trying to lessen the damage they caused, trying to keep people around them safe. Her powers will never be realized. And the same fate shall be passed on to her descendants."

Brown looked at Rose. "Indra will pass on the fate of hatred. Asura will pass on the fate of determination. Heiwa will pass on the fate of support."

Rose scratched her head. "You mean I will be some kind of supporting person to would be heroes."

Brown lifted his shoulders. "Who knows. Maybe you already are a supporting character back on your real home."

Rose bit her lip, deep in thought. "Maybe. But right now, I have nothing. What's there to support. I just want to be able to do what I can to help."

Brown laughed. "Well you have yourself now. Perhaps you can finally be the twist of fate for this lost bloodline. Besides another point I was saying is that maybe your bloodline is so lost, not only because you're subjected to supporting roles in your communities, but also because you need in depth understanding of elements and in its components before you can manipulate them. In other words you need to be really smart."

Rose shrugged. "I have a feeling that I'm a well read person. I'll survive."

Suddenly, a loud banging was heard at the door.

"Gramps Brown!" Somebody said in a sweet voice. At the door peaked the head of a golden haired boy.

"Calvin. I thought I said you need to deliver the scroll back to the La Vien!" Brown said exasperatedly.

Then James suddenly walked in the door. "He refused to leave without Rose." He said in a grunt.

James glared at Rose. Rose stuck her tongue out at him. "You're just jealous because he likes me."

James crossed his arms. "I would never be jealous of a loser like you."

Rose stood up and stood in front of him. "Oh yeah? Let's see then who can deliver that scroll faster to La Vien."

James raised his brows. "You don't even know where that is."

"Exactly." Rose said, putting her hands on her hips. "And I would still beat you."

James' nostrils flared. "Got some air now after being treated like royalty by the old man. You will never fool me. You will always be that little dying helpless freak by the sack to me, tied up and caught by that freak, Rocky."

"YOU SAVED ME JUST THAT ONE TIME"

"WITHOUT THAT ONE TIME YOU WOULD BE DEAD!"

"I SAVED YOU FROM THE ROCK!"

"IF YOU DIDN'T PUSH ME AWAY, YOU DIDN'T NEED TO SAVE ME!"

"WELL I-"

"Mmm guys." Calvin said raising his hands between them for a ceasefire. "Let's go and deliver the scroll then? We can just race on the way?"

They both turned to glare at him for the interruption. Calvin flinched and hid behind Brown.

Brown shook his head in exasperation. "Calvin, James, from now on Rose is on your team."

Calvin jumped up in a whoop. James groaned. "I quit!" He screamed, and started walking away.

Calvin put an arm around him and dragged him back. "Rose, we are very glad that you are now a part of us. We welcome you graciously to our team! Yay! Group hug!"

The two immediately jumped away from Calvin.

Brown cleared his throat. "Well you know your mission. Off you go. Oh and Rose, you can use the training ground outside to explore your abilities more."

"WHAT!" James bellowed. "I train there!"

"It's big enough for 2 people." Brown said.

James stomped away from the room, looking like he just lost his birthday gift. Calvin giggled as he followed behind. Rose was about to follow when Brown stopped her.

"Will you be okay now?"

Rose nodded. "Just keep on looking for traces of my past. And I promise to help your city the best that I can."

And with that, she turned and followed her team.

 **A/N: Okay I know I promised that Sakura/Rose will be returning to Konoha now, but there's just too much to explain. I promise she will definitely return to Konoha on the next chapter. Anyway, I was already able to introduce her powers. Haha I tried hard to make it consistent to the story. SPOILERS by the way. Ooops. Anyway, those facts I mentioned happened for real in Naruto. The one about Kaguya. Except for the sister. That I just tried to fit in so that it would look perfect for the Team 7. Sasuke came from Indra. Naruto came from Asura. Then Sakura came from Heiwa. Isn't that cool? Finally Sakura is relevant. Hahaha. Anyway, wait for my next chapter loves!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **A/N: Aaaaand this is it! I'm taking her home! I have 2 pictured scenarios on how she gets home. And I chose one which I thought would be more fun. However, if it doesn't seem very satisfying, you can tell me through reviews then I'll get to editing. Anyway, some of you noticed that James seem similar to Sasuke. I actually deliberately did that. There's a line in the last chapter where Sakura herself stated that James' life story with his brother seem familiar with her. Later on, you will see why I'll make things a lot more similar. As a matter of fact, Calvin is supposed to be similar to someone too(PS: It's not Naruto. Haha) But I kinda like how Calvin developed a cute personality on his own. So I decided not to make him too similar to his supposed counterpart in the shinobi world.**

 **Anyway, happy reading!**

 _Previously,_

 _Rose was about to follow when Brown stopped her._

" _Will you be okay now?"_

 _Rose nodded. "Just keep on looking for traces of my past. And I promise to help your city the best that I can."_

 _And with that, she turned and followed her team._

DJKSNDKANSKLAJDLKSJDKLSJKLAJSKLAJSKLAJLKSAJKLJAKLSJLAK

 _5 Years Later_

"LAND! At long last!" A loud scream echoed from the shore. A golden haired boy knelt by the soft sand and joyously lay faced down, moving his arms and legs as if making a beach sand version of a snow angel.

"Calvin, stop being silly. We have no time to even breathe. The more time we stall, the farther that criminal gets away." A stern high pitched voice stated. The owner of that voice went down their boat graciously and put her hands on her hips and stared Calvin down, who was still cuddling the sand. She rolled her eyes and turned back to the boat. "Rose, tell him! Calvin is being irresponsible!"

The one who was called Rose appeared from the boat and jumped down swiftly, thudding softly on the sand. She glanced at Calvin and laughed. "Give him a break, Allison. That was a really long trip through the sea. Don't you want to rest for a while too?" She said, facing the girl who was trying to tell Calvin off.

Allison pursed her lips. "But Rose, the criminal-"

"We'll catch him Al. If we're this tired, he's going to be tired too. Besides, it will be useless to fight him with all of us exhausted like this." Rose told her, smiling down at Calvin. Calvin grinned at her gratefully.

"You're so stuck up Allison. Learn to live!" Calvin said, sticking his tongue out at the fuming girl. Allison flipped back her shoulder length black curls. Her black eyes bore down at Calvin behind her thick big glasses. She was covered from head to toe with a gray long sleeves, which was a turtle neck as well, and gray baggy pants, with gray worn out shoes. Calvin started fanning himself just from staring at her. _It must be really hot for her. What a warm outfit._ Calvin thought, frowning. Allison raised an eyebrow at his gesture.

"Well if we must rest, then we better find a city or a village to stop on." Allison said with a sigh. Rose grinned at her and patted her back. "Relax Allison, we'll find him in no time." She told her reassuringly. Allison just bit her lip in worry.

They have been chasing this dangerous S rank criminal for a while now. He was obviously trying to shake them off, but with Calvin and Rose on her side, they were able to stealthily chase him down, even if it meant travelling across an endless ocean for months, and swiftly avoiding his attacks along with battling the weirdest creatures that Allison saw in her whole life. She believes that this is the destination that the criminal wanted to go to. And she wonders vaguely what's here that the criminal wants.

Calvin jumped up from his romantic episode with the sand and started sprinting back to the boat to gather what's left of their supplies. Allison looked at him and decided to lend a hand.

"Here Calvin, let me help you." She said, going after him. Calvin turned to her with a smile, flashing his dimples at her. Allison couldn't help but return a small smile. _God, Calvin is just so cute sometimes._ But she shook her head and try to push the wayward thoughts from her mind. After all, she was assigned to this team because President Brown trusted in her abilities to keep her emotions in check. But sometimes, it's just so difficult. Calvin and Rose are both extremely popular in their big city. Well, not just in the city of Salve, but the whole West.

Calvin and Rose are heroes, sought after by every city in the West and hailed to the smallest provinces and villages. Calvin has always been popular because he is a part of the great coven of the elite witches. But then there's Rose, appearing out of nowhere at around 5 years ago, then just about travelling from city to city, village to village, saving lives and changing people for the better. For 5 years, Rose has done nothing else but go on missions. Allison knew that it's because Rose has no home to go to, no friends but Calvin and James to turn to.

As part of the elite police force, she has also heard of Rose's arrival. Things were initially kept quiet but rumors state that Rose was a shinobi, a mythical type of person who was supposedly really powerful. The force was wary of her. Nobody knew who she was, and people say that she also doesn't know who she is. As a matter of fact, the President has been assigning people to take turns into trying to find a way to unravel Rose's past. People stayed away from her, keeping an eye on whatever she does.

Because of this, Rose focused her whole attention into completing missions and training to make herself stronger. People watch her get up early in the morning, even appearing first in the training grounds, earlier than James. And stay in training until everyone sleeps. And then slowly, Rose started to be recognized. She completes mission after mission, important ones which she does with Calvin and James, and even really small ones which she sometimes does on her own. People started to see Rose as the benevolent, compassionate, and determined person that she is. Her missions are not just tasks she completes. It's her way to explore and meet new people, lending a hand to those who need help, and making busy people along the way smile with her high energy and infectious joy.

Maybe it was because she has no friends at her dark silent home in the city, but Rose deeply cares for every friend she makes, making sure that she leaves with everyone being happy.

It was also said that Rose is the kind of person who will ask for a story first, before she decides a course of action, no matter what the mission tells her to do. Maybe it was because of the lacking memories she has that makes her feel like she doesn't have enough experience in life, but she will always ask why and how. Even if her mission is just to capture someone, she will always extend the effort to ask the target why they did what they did. And then with her innocent views, she will try to discuss it with the villain, imparting her feelings and what she thinks of the situation personally. She will say them even if the villains don't want to hear it. It makes Rose develop a personal connection with whoever villain she will face. The villains then will either turn themselves in or lose with dignity, happy that if they are ever caught, it is in the hands of a good person who cares like Rose.

More than that, Rose then petitions proposals that can cause change to their community which the villain has not experienced, which turned them into the villains that they are. There was one powerful villain who became such because of bullying. After his defeat, Rose had worked hard to develop an effective anti-bullying system within their society.

Rose is also a headstrong woman who you can't help but like. She always looks on without judgment in her eyes and she is very easy to talk to. If you are a stubborn person, she is more stubborn than you. She will bug you and bug you and bug you and bug you until you talk to her.

But what finally made people know about Rose was when she defeated the springboard villains which would have started a war in the West. For years now, there are hearsays that Brown's son, Lennon, has been collecting powerful individuals that he will launch against his father. It was supposed to be just a simple internal conflict between the father and son. But it would seem like Lennon has developed a bigger view than just overthrowing his father. He had kidnapped 2 important royalties from the north and starved the both of them. Remember, the people at the north are blood feeders. When they were near their limit, Lennon released them at the city of Salve. Now it has been said that normally, the blood feeders are civil and are even known to be diplomats if need to be. But the 2 royalties are starved and mad with hunger. The moment they were released into the open, they immediately tried to seek relief by latching into anyone who has blood and sucking their bodies dry. Now they are not just blood feeders, they were royalties. So their strength and speed, and their senses are ten times greater than the normal blood feeder. In the scenario, the police force would have been forced to kill the 2 to save the people who are in danger of getting killed from the rampage. Then this would have automatically started a war between the West and the North.

That seemed to be the plan of Lennon. His plan went as far as the 2 blood feeders being released and causing riot at the city square. But Rose immediately appeared and was successful in leading the 2 away from the city and into an isolated part of the forest near them. She then battled the two on her own, as most of the police has focused on trying to calm the people down and arresting those who took advantage of the riot. Some other of the police force has focused into healing the injured. There are also some who has urgently started to extract the venom from those bitten caused by the blood feeders' bite.

The battle between Rose and the 2 royalties wiped out a big part of the forest. But in the end, she recognized the distress of the two. She purposely made them bite her so that they can suck on her blood for relief while she dragged them back to the hospital of the city for more supply of blood.

Soon, the 2 blood feeders has their sanity returned as they were finally given the blood that they needed at the hospital. They had apologized greatly to the people, telling their story of being kidnapped, and had promised to compensate however they can. Rose however was confined for weeks, almost dying because of the great loss of blood that happened to her because of her effort to bring the two to the hospital. The 2 royalties have stayed in the city until she woke up again and had expressed their deepest gratitude. Rose could have just killed them, but she chose to recognize their distress and even sacrificed her own blood to keep them from moving away while she brought them to the hospital.

Instead of war, the riot caused the two great lands to have an alliance with each other.

Rose was finally noticed by the people. She was celebrated and finally, people aren't staying away from her as if she is plagued by disease. People welcome her as if she has always been part of the city.

People clung to her for hope, especially since they know that Lennon's plan is just beginning. Rumors say that he had begun to collect terrifyingly powerful individuals for his cause. And since James disappeared 2 years ago, people were afraid that he was one of those collected.

Allison glanced at Rose and Calvin. She knows that she is just a small replacement to their beloved friend James on this team. But the two has always made her feel so welcome. She never felt out of place. Even if aside from being ultimately strong, the two were also indescribably gorgeous.

Calvin is as usual, being Calvin. His golden hair was shorter than it was years ago. It was cropped up to his ears and it wasn't combed back perfectly like before. But it gave him a sexy messy look, as if he was bearing an after sex ruffled hair. His chocolate brown eyes were even darker, almost turning muddy brown, its innocence long gone. His eyes weren't the perfectly joyous one like before, instead it holds understanding and maturity. So despite his childish antics, his eyes will always indicate that he will be alert and observant when needs demand it. He was still tall and lean, but he was paler, his rosiness glow not showing as commonly as it did before.

Allison helped him pick up some of the boxes as Calvin created a perfect curve with his wand which made the boxes as small as a pin. She placed the small boxes in her backpack and proceeded to gather the supplies into the next boxes. Glancing at Calvin, Allison thinks that his sudden maturity and hovering sadness is caused by James' disappearance. There are so many theories out there as to why James is gone. But she knows that only Calvin and Rose, along with President Brown really knows what happened.

After all, the last night James was seen is with Calvin and Rose. James had knocked out Calvin and he angrily tried to get Rose to fight him. Rose was just trying hard to be defensive and she didn't lay a single hand on James no matter how hard he hit her. President Brown immediately went in between them and stopped James' attacks. James furiously walked out, not even glancing at the unconscious Calvin he passed by. Then the next thing people knows is that the morning was greeted by the most heartbreaking cry, resounding the whole city, made by a sobbing Calvin who was shaking so hard, the cloth he was clutching to cover his tears already wet. By his side is Rose, who looked like a storm passed her, her red shirt all torn out, her skirt has holes, she was missing a shoe, and her hair was so wild it looked like a wrecked bush. She has blood on her face and her hands. She was comforting Calvin, rubbing a gentle hand at his back. But she was also crying silent tears, and her other hand was clenched so tight it looked like it will bleed.

Allison glanced at Rose who was waiting for them outside, patiently tapping her shoe to a rhythm that only she can hear. Rose was really beautiful. Her long pink hair falls down smoothly down to her waist. She has hypnotizing emerald eyes framed with long thick lashes. She has a small cute nose and thin red lips. She was thin, but she has curves in all the right places. She was both girly and uncaring. She only fixed herself out of habit, because Calvin would always push her to, but she couldn't care less about what anyone will think of her appearance. But that attitude only made her more attractive. Sometimes, she would braid her hair and pull it up, that her hair would look like an elegant rose.

Allison sighed. She opened her bag wider so Calvin can put in all the shrunk boxes himself. Not only are Calvin and Rose powerful and awesome, they are also really gorgeous. Allison consciously touched her glasses. Calvin would comment on her fashion, but he would also tell her how pretty she is. She doesn't know if the sweet boy is just being nice or he means it. But nevertheless, she appreciates it.

When the President told her that she would take James' place in the team, she did her best to keep her expression composed and cool. But she knows that President Brown saw through it and realized how excited she is. Brown told her though that he believes that unlike others who would just fangirl over the two, she would do her best to work professionally alongside them. And she does. But of course there are times when she can't help but admire them. They are totally awesome after all.

"Rose." She said when Calvin and her got off the boat, bringing some of their supplies. "Where do you think we are?"

Rose looked around, out towards the sea and back to the shore. Then she looked straight ahead to the forest beyond the shore. "I'm not sure. We're way beyond the map. The map stops at the city of Suressa. Then there's a great body of water beyond the city, then nothing else." Rose pulled out a map from her bag to check again. "Yep. See here." She indicated the two to come to her. Calvin and Allison approached her and looked at the map.

"Wait." Calvin said. "Then we should either be back at the top of the map, to the city of Manikee if we travelled across the ocean at the bottom of the map." Calvin pointed his finger, trailing across the ocean at the bottom of the map then placing the finger back at the top of the map, as if saying that it should make a circle.

"Yeah, except I have been to the city of Manikee countless times. And I know for sure that this isn't it. The air is different don't you think?" Rose said, lifting her head as if sniffing.

"What do you mean?" Allison asked, trying to sharpen her senses.

Rose shrugged. "Chakra, it's everywhere. I mean it's always there. But I can feel it, stronger than ever."

Calvin blinked at her. "You mean the elemental chakra around here is stronger?"

Rose shook her head. "No. It's like chakra emanating from a person. A chakra intertwined with life energy."

Calvin's eyes turned wide. "But if chakra comes from a person, then that means there are shinobi around here! You're the only shinobi in the whole West!"

Rose looked at Calvin thoughtfully. "Yeah. I wonder where we are. Come on, let's start walking before night falls. We can always camp out but I would really prefer it if we had nice beds to sleep on after months of being tossed around in waves even as we sleep."

Calvin and Allison couldn't agree more.

OWKEOWKPOSDXKIOWDJKSDKLSLDSLKDLKSDLSKDSKLAKDLSKDLS

Calvin and Allison are dying on their feet.

"Rose, let's camp out. I can't feel my legs anymore" Calvin whined, blinking his puppy eyes up at Rose.

Rose chuckled and pinched his cheeks. "Cal, just a little more okay? We're almost there."

Calvin rolled his eyes. "How do you even know that? I don't see anything but trees!"

Allison huffed. "Let's trust Rose Calvin. I'm sure she can feel the presence of people now."

Rose nodded at Allison with a smile.

Calvin pouted. "You can feel the strange chakra again, don't you?"

Rose laughed. "You know me so well."

Calvin shook his head in exasperation. "Fine. But just a little bit more. If I fall, we rest!"

"Please." Rose said, looking at Calvin. "We both know you won't fall."

Calvin suddenly looked morose. "I did when James hit the living lights out of me."

Silence. Allison shuffled awkwardly, trying not to look at the expression of the two.

Rose took a deep breath and walked next to Calvin. She held his hand and squeezed it affectionately. Calvin gave Rose a sad smile. She pulled him close and put her head on his shoulder as they continue to walk. Calvin sighed contentedly, seemingly comforted if nothing else.

Allison quickly glanced at the two. She guessed nothing else is needed to be said. This alone tells the world how deeply they care for their lost friend, mourning together, and giving hope to each other. Allison frowned. To be honest, she never liked James. Sure, he was scorching hot. And she'd be lying if she didn't admit that she once fantasized about him as she saw him passing by the main office of the police forces. But James was always brooding. He was all alone, his brother is in God-knows-where. And his eyes would always hold incredible anger. To whom, nobody can really guess. If anything, he would only really show positive emotions when he's with his friends. And that's only Calvin and eventually, Rose. But when James finally snapped and even harmed the two closest person to him, Allison already blacklisted him on her head. He was dangerous. And he doesn't deserve all the sadness and care that his friends are giving him, or so she thought bitterly. But what does she know, so she politely look away as the two continue to comfort each other.

They continue to walk in silence until finally, they see a tall gate.

"Rose look! I think it's the entrance to a village!" Calvin said excitedly. Allison gasped. She was so tired that the loss of her composure isn't an issue to her anymore.

"Come on! I'll quickly look for an Inn!" She said, sprinting forward.

Rose laughed. Still holding Calvin's hand and walking casually towards the gate, she said. "I don't know if I'm being mean, but it's fun seeing Allison flustered."

Calvin giggled. "Let's tease her more often."

Rose let go of Calvin's hand and pretended to smack him on the head. "Now you're the one being mean!"

And then they were laughing, forgetting their stress, their exhaustion, and everything else as they finally entered the village.

They didn't even notice the guards by the gate who were gaping at them, mouths wide open, their eyes trained on the pink kunoichi who has finally returned.

 **A/N: Okay so I took her home as promised. I'm sorry that she hasn't met anyone from the village yet! I didn't know that explaining would take this long, again. Anyway, as I said, there will be similarities between the characters from the village and the people from the West city. As a matter of fact, Sakura herself has a counterpart. I was trying to make Allison like her counterpart, but again, she developed her own personality. And I guess I don't want to change it even if she's not as likable as Calvin. Anyway, I know James is sounding more and more like Sasuke. But I promise there's a reason for it. Besides, it's fun if the two worlds meet, don't you think? Anyway, write in the reviews if you have some suggestions on the progress of the story! Thank you!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **A/N:**

 **IMPORTANT: Hi guys, I'm not a snob. For some reason, the reviews are not showing in my profile and I can just really see them in gmail. So I'll probably respond to them here in the author's note.**

 **BUT IF YOU CAN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THEM, THEN GO SKIP TO THE MAIN STORY AND IT WOULD STILL BE TOTALLY FINE**

 **, so there was one review which was totally perceptive. It totally caught on to who exactly am I likening the new characters. Yes, it was James to Sasuke, Calvin to Sakura, and Rose to Naruto. There's a reason for that which I'll reveal later.**

 **And then it also caught on to what is really between James and Calvin, for that you'll just have to see ;) Which means that James is not going to be a character who suddenly disappeared. I'm also not going to leave the issue going on in the West hanging. I'm a reader too and I know what it feels like when authors leave you in a cliffhanger and never answer it. Hahaha. So the fight between Brown and Lennon, the issue between James and his brother, the criminal they are chasing, the exciting concept of lost bloodlines, they are all going to be part of the main plot. (I sat for an hour at the couch last night just thinking about them. Man, it's hard to be an author!) Which means that not everything is going to happen in the shinobi world. I'm going to try my best to keep things intertwined. In All actuality, we need more Konoha exposure.**

 **However, the events that happened in the past 5 years with Sakura/Rose in her new team, I'm not sure if I will go into details in explaining them. Honestly, I didn't think that people would be interested in the West so I just conveniently put the events in narrative form. But I don't know. If you guys tell me to put special chapters for it, then I can do that if you want me to.**

 **2\. There was another review who was asking for a deeper explanation of Western mythology. Okay, I think I'll do that. I had already started off by including more creatures and the like in the West, but I'll look more into Western mythology to pattern it. You're right, the original plot of Naruto amazingly patterned itself nicely to Asian mythology. I'll try and do the same. Thank you for the suggestion! But it also asked if Sasuke is still going to be a retard. Hahahahaha well it depends on how you define retard. He's a changed man since he repented and travelled around the world for a while right? But I wouldn't say that he turned into Naruto who's loud and pounces on people.**

 **3\. For all the other reviews, thank you so much for appreciating the story! Keep reviewing so I can improve more, I hope would finally show me my reviews on my profile.**

 **Anyway, Leggo Chapter 5!**

 _Previously_

 _They continue to walk in silence until finally, they see a tall gate._

 _"Rose look! I think it's the entrance to a village!" Calvin said excitedly. Allison gasped. She was so tired that the loss of her composure isn't an issue to her anymore._

 _"Come on! I'll quickly look for an Inn!" She said, sprinting forward._

 _Rose laughed. Still holding Calvin's hand and walking casually towards the gate, she said. "I don't know if I'm being mean, but it's fun seeing Allison flustered."_

 _Calvin giggled. "Let's tease her more often."_

 _Rose let go of Calvin's hand and pretended to smack him on the head. "Now you're the one being mean!"_

 _And then they were laughing, forgetting their stress, their exhaustion, and everything else as they finally entered the village._

 _They didn't even notice the guards by the gate who were gaping at them, mouths wide open, their eyes trained on the pink kunoichi who has finally returned._

Now

The resounding bell that rings when somebody opens the door of the shop broke the silence.

"Welcome!" A girl with long blonde hair tied at the top of her head said with a smile, trying to stifle the yawn that threatens to escape her mouth.

Handling a flower shop is not as easy as they make it to be. People think she just stand inside all day, plastering a smile when anybody enters. But it's not true. She needs to keep inventory of each and every flower in her shop and make sure they stay fresh. She would also need to watch out for events like Christmas, Valentines Day, All Souls Day, Weddings and Funerals because Floral business is seasonal. But above all, she needs to keep refreshing her knowledge on the flowers. When a customer asks, she needs to be immediately prepared with answers. You're feeling humble? A Tsubaki, with its red petals and sunny core would be perfect. You want to express sincerity? Better give her a Sumire, with its violet petals and white streaks. You want to say "Trust Me?" Then the joyous yellow Kiku is for you. It's not easy, especially with new bred flowers coming in all the time.

And such is the job of the petite quirky blond, Yamanaka Ino.

"Ino." A soft voice called to her. Ino's head immediately sprung up.

"H-Hi Sai! Welcome!" She said, stuttering, as Sai made his way towards her. She bit the inside of her cheeks and took a deep breath. _No need to be flustered Ino_. She told herself. _It's just Sai._ She shook her head and went into professional I-know-flowers-and-all-that-sh*t mode. _But Damn it. He's just so hot._

He was really fair, probably the fairest person Ino ever met, almost white skinned. But he has striking black eyes that disappear into happy slits when he smiles, just as he is doing so now as he approached her. He has a long and low perfect nose and a full bottom lip. He has a small cute dent above his upper lip. He wears a long sleeve shirt that stops around his mid rift, showing off his perfectly defined abs. Ino had to stop her mouth from watering. She swallowed a few more times before she allowed herself to open her mouth to speak.

"What brings you here Sai? Never thought you'd be one for flowers!"

Sai laughed awkwardly. "Well, yeah I'm not."

Ino's lips twitched. _Always so brutally honest. He's in my flower shop and he gallantly says he's not into flowers. God if you weren't so sexy I would have thrown you outside already._ She covered her annoyance with a sweet smile. "Wanna bet that I could convince you to be?"

"No." Sai said simply, his eyes disappearing in his smile again.

 _Ino, deep breaths. You don't want your flower shop to be suspended again if you hit another customer. The last one deserved it, stupid old perv, coming here to touch my ass. Sai is just being…Sai._ With that thought in mind, she sighed. "Then what do you want Sai?"

Sai's eyes snapped open as he regarded her carefully. "Have I offended you, Ino? I'm sorry."

Ino raised a brow. "You don't even know what to be sorry for."

Sai stepped closer and looked her in the eye. "Yes. But I read that you don't have to know what you did wrong if you sincerely don't want to hurt a person. Sorry is not always for apology. Sometimes, it's just to make amends. You would always say sorry if it means keeping someone happy."

Silence.

Ino's mouth dropped open. Well, she didn't know what to say to that. She felt herself hold her breath, as Sai came closer, looking at her intently, his forehead slightly creasing in worry. They stared at each other for a good few seconds. _Ahhh so handsome_. Then suddenly, a strange urge to giggle bubbled up inside her. She gave in, blowing air on her cheeks, her shoulders starting to shake. Her hands immediately went up and she pushed Sai, finally letting her giggle loose, she guffawed loudly, eyes closed in laughter.

"Hihihihihihihihihi. Oh you're such a weirdo, you!" Ino said, tears of laughter brimming her eyes. As she tried to slap Sai's shoulder playfully, her hand only met air. Ino opened her eyes, Sai wasn't infront of her anymore.

Suddenly, a loud crash resounded in the store. Turning to look, Ino saw Sai at the edge of the room on his ass, covered in soil and broken pieces of vase. She must have pushed him all the way there earlier!

"Oh my God!" Ino screamed. "Sai are you alright! I'm so sorry!" _Oh My GOD'! I'm always so stupid when I get giddy. I used to be like this to Sasuke-kun. But it was alright because every other girl was being stupid too. But man, I'm downright humiliated with Sai._

She held her hand out to him. "Here, let me help you get up."

Sai frowned at her, dusting off his shirt and pants. "Do you mean your apology?" He asked, tilting his head to one side, ignoring the hand she held out.

Ino sighed. She can't blame him if he's angry at her. She did push him after all.

 _It's because you're being too adorable. This is totally your fault._ Ino shook her inner thoughts away.

She looked up and saw a way for Sai to forgive her. She walked across the room again and pulled out scissors from one of her cabinets. She cleanly cut off the stem of one of the flowers she had her eye on and walked back to Sai.

She held it out to Sai. "This is a Purple Hyacinth. In flower language, it means I'm sorry."

Sai stared at it, looking at the purple flowers huddled together with curiosity. Then slowly, he broke into a happy smile. He took the flower from her and sniffed it. "You know, I think I like flowers now." He said thoughtfully as he finally took her hand to stand up on his feet.

Ino shyly looked down at her feet. "Flowers are really meaningful, aside from the fact that they are also really pretty with their play of colors and relaxing scent."

Sai nodded. "I believe you." He said simply. "I need flowers for someone."

Ino froze. _This is what it's all about?!_ Ino forcibly plastered the biggest smile across her face.

"OH REALLY?" _Ooops, too loud. Calm down._ She cleared her throat. "I mean, oh really? I think I may have the perfect flowers for you."

She roughly grabbed Sai's hand and dragged him all the way to the back of the room. She picked up her keys and opened the cupboard. Dragging Sai inside, she clicked open the lights and gestured to him the flowers of her choice.

"I usually keep this for emergency purposes. But for you, I'll give it for free." She said, crossing her arms and raising her head with pride.

Sai stared at the flowers for some time then scratched his head. "I may not know a lot about flowers. But Ino, Aren't these Poison Ivy?" Sai said, staring at the seemingly innocent star shaped flower.

Ino huffed. "Oh please, don't be picky. I'm sure it will be a perfect match to whoever you'll give it to." _Yeah, to whoever that b*tch is who would probably be too ugly for you. Good riddance._

Sai pressed a finger to his lips, deep in thought. "I don't know. My neighbor might be offended with it. After all, that dear old lady has always given me dinner when she knows I haven't eaten yet. She's always so sweet to me."

Ino blinked in shock. _Neighbor? Dear Old Lady? Dinner? Oh so it wasn't to a girl he likes!_ Ino laughed in relief. _Wait, why am I relieved? Man, I'm really being weird today._ Shaking her head, she grabbed Sai's arm and took him out of the cupboard.

"Why didn't you say so, Sai? I know exactly what flowers you can give her." Ino told him softly. Sai tilted his head curiously. "Why? Who do you think it was for that merits a gift of Poison Ivy."

Ino blushed. "Ahahaha things about the past are not worth talking about. Anyway, here! I think this should make your neighbor happy."

Ino gestured to a flower, drooping in the shape of a bell, glowing in its beautiful blues.

Sai walked up to it in wonder, his mouth slightly open as he regarded it. "Wow. This is pretty. What is it?"

Ino smiled. "Blue bell. It means gratitude. It would be perfect for your kind neighbor."

Sai grinned at her, showing her a bright smile. "I like it. I'll take it."

Ino nodded. She cleanly cut the stem and gave it to Sai. "It's on me, for all the trouble I caused this morning."

"You treated me to something! We really are friends." Sai stated happily as he gratefully took the flowers. Ino laughed as Sai made his way towards the door holding both the Purple Hyacinth she gave him and the Blue bell for his neighbor. He waved goodbye and finally pushed the door out.

As soon as he was out the door, Ino sighed. _If I keep treating handsome men for free, my shop will really close._ Nevertheless, she sighed dreamily and happily stared into space.

The bell rang again.

"Welcome." Ino said softly, sighing the words as she still feel inspired.

"Mmm hello. Good afternoon Miss? I'm sorry but I just came in to ask something." A really familiar voice called out to her. Ino blinked and immediately snapped to attention, turning her eyes to the girl who spoke.

The world stopped.

"Do you have a map of this place?" The girl said, looking at her with a smile on her face. "I'm sorry but me and my friends are lost. It would be really helpful if perhaps you have a map you can spare?"

Ino blinked. 'I…uhmm…yes….I….uhhh." Speechless. She couldn't seem to force any word out of her mouth, which is weird because she has always been one of the most vocal person anywhere. She has a thousand questions she wants to ask, but her tongue was tied.

Instead, her hand automatically went to pick up the spare map that she has which is supposed to be given to travelers in emergencies. She wordlessly handed it to the girl.

The girl quickly scanned it and grinned at her. "This is perfect, thank you. But I don't want to abuse your kindness. I think I'll buy these Sakura flowers." She held up a flower that she seemed to have picked up on her way to the counter. "They are amazingly the color of my hair, isn't it?" She dropped her payment infront of Ino. She smiled at Ino as she reached up and tucked the Sakura flowers in her elegantly braided hair. It looks like a beautiful pink crown, in perfect sync with her pink hair as well.

"Thank you again." The girl said gratefully. She walked out the door, and soon walked out of sight.

A few moments passed.

Ino finally snapped out of her trance and gasped.

"SAKURA! SAKURA WAIT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, rushing out the door. But the pink haired friend of hers disappeared in the midst of the day crowd.

She stomped her feet in frustration. _How could I have frozen like that?! It's because she looked so the same yet so different! She's so pretty and elegant and she looked like some kind of fairy princess. Sakura has always been alright but she wasn't that pretty! And what the heck is she talking about being lost and all that! And why didn't she greet me! And-_

Ino rushed across the market, trying to spot any appearance of pink hair, but to no avail.

"Ino!" A voice called out to her. She turned impatiently and spotted Sai.

"What's the rush? Is something wrong?"

"Have you seen her? She was just walking around here somewhere! I lost her! Damn it!" Ino said, turning her head back and forth, still looking for her.

Sai grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Ino calm down. What are you talking about? Who are you looking for-"

"Calvin! Where in the world are you? Stop playing hide and seek, you're such a child." A loud voice called out over the crowd. Ino and Sai were just going to ignore it when a reply who used such a familiar voice answered.

"Allie, be patient with Cal. Besides, he said he'll treat you to dinner if you find him, right?"

The one who called out in a loud voice snorted. "Well he better."

"I'll race you to finding him. If I find him first, he treats me." The familiar voice said again.

Ino and Sai immediately turned, but all they saw was a flash of pink hair disappearing in the crowd again.

Sai gasped. "Is that-?

Ino started to run, pulling Sai's hand with her. "Hurry or we'll lose her again!"

They started to scout around the market area. They split up and covered opposite bases, and met by the bridge at the end of the market.

"WE LOST HER! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! HOW CAN SOMEONE WITH PINK HAIR DISAPPEAR SO MUCH!" Ino screamed in frustration. She turned to the market again and shouted at the top of her lungs.

"SAKURA YOU FOREHEAD GIRL! COME AND SHOW YOURSELF! SAKURAAAAA! SAKU-mmmmpfh." Her voice was suddenly muffled by Sai's hand covering her lips. Sai's hand was surprisingly soft against her lips. Ino shook her head. _Focus. Your bestfriend is missing and she's finally here and all you can think about is how soft Sai's hand is._

"Sai-what in the-"

"There's no point in screaming. Sakura seems to be either ignoring us or has gone incredibly deaf. It's impossible that she didn't hear us." He said, his eyes trained on the market area.

Ino sighed. "Then what do we do? We can't just let her be! We need to catch her."

Sai nodded. "We tell them."

Ino's eyes widened. "You mean-"

"Yes." Sai said quickly. "Now hurry."

Sai was the one who grabbed her hand this time. And together, they rushed off.

Unknown to them, at the other side of the bridge, a pink haired girl had her arms leaned on the railings and was watching the two of them curiously.

"Allison, do you think they're in trouble?" She said, talking to a girl who was tying her thick black curls into a clean ponytail.

"No. I think they're also victims of people who play hide and seek too seriously." The girl said, barely glancing at the bridge. "Rose." She continued, looking exasperated now. "We have to find Calvin. We need to carry on with our mission."

Rose nodded. "I don't think Calvin is really hiding. He's probably exploring the village."

Allison rolled her eyes. "Well, we don't have time for-"

"Don't you think this village is really peaceful and nice?" Rose suddenly said, letting her eyes wander to the clear blue skies, the children laughing and playing, the villagers smiling at each other, and so much more lively things.

Allison followed her line of vision and nodded. "Yeah. While our city of Salve is incredibly hyper, in this village, I feel like I can lie down and just stare at the clouds forever."

Rose smiled. "Relaxing isn't it?"

Allison sighed. "Yes but we're not here to relax. We need to move."

Rose chuckled, shaking her head at Allison. "Fine fine. Let's go. Now who catches Calvin first-"

Allison groaned. "Noooo not again!"

JDKLASJDKLSJDKSJDKLSJLKAJSJS:LAKS:LAKDL:SKDL:KSL:AKS:Lks:

At another part of the village, a girl with dark blue hair that reaches her waist stands by a fountain. Her white eyes with tinges of lavender is trained on the waters of fountain. She was deep in thought, staring hard at the flowing water, as if it will help her unravel and understand her own thoughts.

It was absolutely silent at this part of the village. Lucky for the girl, it was one of the rare times that the fountain was left alone by the villagers. And for this, she was able to think about her confused feelings in a beautiful setting. The flowing water was relaxing to her senses. But she wasn't staring at the water per se, she was staring at the coins at the bottom of the fountain, thrown by the villagers who have a hopeful heart like hers, yearning for something that they are yet to get, or perhaps a dream that will never come true.

A voice behind her broke the silence.

"Uhmm. Hi. Excuse me. But have you seen a boy with gold hair and-"

"Have you ever been in love?" The mysterious girl interrupted the voice. She only really whispered her question. But it was strong enough to indicate that it was a real question that she is taking seriously. She felt the intruder approach her slowly from behind. But she kept her gaze fixed on the coins of the fountain, not to be interrupted in her deep thinking.

"I don't know." The voice of the intruder said. The intruder found herself whispering as well. "It depends I guess."

The girl with blue hair tilted her head. "It's difficult isn't it? Especially if you have only ever loved one man. There will be no one else but him, forever."

The intruder flinched. She doesn't know why she did, but she felt the truth behind the words that the girl said. "Is that so?"

The girl nodded with a smile on her face. "And it wouldn't matter if he never loves you back. Even just to know that you matter even in the smallest things is enough."

The intruder nodded, lost in thought as well now. "That sounds incredibly sad though. Have you ever tried to get yourself to be loved back?"

The girl shook her head. "Nope. But I believe that to love is not to ask for something in return. Should love be based on conditions? That you require a return of love before you love? That makes love sound so shallow."

The intruder chuckled softly. "I bet you're thinking about all this now because you think your guy is never going to notice you. And you probably think you're running out of time"

The girl bit her lip. "He never did. And he probably never will. Especially now when he has so many fan girls." She said sadly.

The intruder touched her shoulder. "You are a really sweet girl and trust me, it will be his loss if he never opens his eye wide enough to see the beauty that is you. Were you going to make a wish on the fountain?"

The girl nodded shyly, she still hasn't looked at the intruder, but her whole focus really is on the coins of the fountain.

The intruder squeezed her shoulder. "Okay, let's make a wish together so you won't feel conscious."

The intruder pulled out a coin, and with a kind person beside her, the girl finally felt more confident about doing this. She pulled out her coin too.

"Okay." The intruder said. "Now on the count of three, we close our eyes. One, two, three." The girl closed her eyes.

"Okay now let's make a wish." The intruder said.

The girl took a deep breath and thought about what she wants to wish for. Maybe she can wish for her to be noticed by him. Or a happily ever after with him. Or a romantic episode with him. But in the end, her kindness and innocent love took over. A soft smile played on her lips as she thought, _I hope he will find the happiness that the universe knows he deserves._ And with that, she threw her coin at the fountain.

The intruder threw hers as well. Then the intruder laughed, patting her back. "I bet you wished for his happiness." The girl blushed and looked down shyly. The intruder laughed harder. "Hey, don't be shy. It only proves how sweet you are. I'm Rose by the way, what's your name?"

"Hinata." The girl said as she finally looked up to look at her companion.

Hinata froze.

"Well Hinata." The intruder who has, as Hinata sees, pink hair, told her with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

Hinata's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "S-S-S-Sa-Sa-k-k-ku-"

"Hey Rose! Hurry, I don't think Calvin's here. I think he's at the eastern side of the village!" Another voice said. Rose sighed.

"Well, I gotta go. I wish you all the best in your love life, Hinata." The pink haired girl beamed at Hinata as she waved her hand enthusiastically and followed the person who called her. Soon, she was out of sight.

Hinata gasped as soon as she realized that the girl was gone.

"S-Sakura!" Hinata called out. She quickly raced forward and looked around, trying to spot the pink hair again.

Hinata clicked her tongue, a little bit frustrated that she has frozen and carelessly let Sakura go. She remembers how much Naruto would always say he misses Sakura. Sakura is important to him. So Hinata feels guilty that she let her go too easily.

 _Naruto-kun is going to hate me_. She thought sadly. She shook her head quickly and focused. She refuses to just give up so she blinked a few times and muttered under her breath. "Byakugan!" Veins appeared at the side of her eyes all the way down to her cheeks. She can see her surroundings clearer now with a perfect 360 degrees diameter field of vision. She quickly turned around as she sensed the chakra of the girl she is looking for.

"There!" She said, hurrying to the source. But as soon as she approached it, it was gone again. She gasped in disbelief. She looked around, confused. _How did this happen? She just disappeared._ It's like she vanished in thin air.

Shaking her head, she decided to just tell them. _I hope Naruto-kun won't hate me if I tell him I lost Sakura._ She said, quickly running towards where she would find them.

From above the pillars near the fountain, Rose clung there, looking cautiously at the girl who ran away.

"What was that?" Allison said beside her, looking at what she was staring at.

"I don't know." Rose said, a little confused. "I just felt her detecting me. For some weird reason, she was able to feel my chakra and see my chakra with that eye technique she has."

Allison looked at Rose. "But then how did she not find us if she was able to detect you?"

Rose raised a brow at her. "I can control my chakra completely, Allison. I can make it disappear or disguise it into something else. With those eyes, that girl will see us as nothing more than a part of these pillars."

"Oh." Allison said. "Well let's not worry about this. Calvin, remember?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Allison, if I didn't know better, I'd say you miss Calvin so much you can't stand a few hours without him."

Allison blushed all the way down to her hair roots. "That's not true at all! I've never heard a funnier lie! Or an insulting one for that matter. Argh! Shut up and let's just do our jobs!"

Rose laughed, jumping down smoothly to the ground and heading on their way.

SDKLASDJASLKSJALSKALSKALDJKSLJDKSJDLKAJSLKAJSLKAJDKLSDJ

At the edge of the village, skirting the ends of the forest, was a lively spring. And at its edges, at the slippery parts of the soil, there is a guy with shiny black hair in a green spandex, standing on his hands, huffing as he pushes his weight while counting.

"Nine hundred seventy five!" He said, pushing himself off the ground and landing right back. "Nine hundred seventy six!" He does the same exercise. His round eyes are steadily focused, not even hinting a tinge of exhaustion. Although his thick brows are furrowed in concentration, making sure that he lands safely at the damp soil without slipping.

"Nine hundred seventy seven! Nine hundred seventy eight! Nine hundred-" Suddenly, the guy quickly jumped up, so fast that at one moment, he was still standing upside down, then the next he was on his feet, already poised for a fight.

"Who goes there?" He said, his loud voice resounding at the whole spring area. Shuffling from the bushes made him tense. He immediately faced the source of sound and crouched in preparation of attacking.

"Dear opponent, it is not noble to fight a man with his back turned. Let alone fighting one who was standing on his hands. Face me fair and square and let us battle for our youth!" He declared, head held high but still warily surveying the source of sound.

"Oh. I'm sorry, did I frighten you?" A soft voice responded to his call. A pair of hands sprouted from the bushes and pushed the blockade away. But who appeared before him stunned the usually energetic and lively man for a good few seconds.

"I'm sorry. But I was just looking around, trying to find a friend of mine?" The intruder said with a smile, gesturing around.

The man blinked, but after a while, a slow grin spread across his face. "Ah." He said, sounding resigned. "I guess I fainted again while I am doing my daily exercise. For I am indulged in my favorite dream again." He approached the intruder and gazed at her with love in his eyes.

"My beloved, we meet again in one of our many expeditions in my head. You make my heart bleed for you only disappear when consciousness pulls us apart." He said, his voice laced with sorrow.

"Uhmmm." The intruder hesitantly backed away. "Er-Sorry, I didn't quite get that. But what?"

He put his hands over his chest. "I am always so nervous, facing you who holds such beauty." He shielded his eyes. "I am blinded by your brilliant smile." He put his hands over his ears. "I may turn deaf after hearing the sweetness of your voice, for I don't need to hear anything again." Then he embraced himself. "I become senseless after our every meeting. For you're all I will ever sense." He held out his hand to her and smiled wide, his round eyes widening. "Take my hand and let us explore our youth together my love!"

The intruder blinked at him, forcing a laugh as she continued to back away. "Er- no. I mean, I think you got the wrong person. Kay thanks Bye!" She turned and started to run. But the man suddenly appeared right behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

"My dear Sakura, what are you talking about. Have you forgotten your most amazing lover? It is I, Lee, who shall deliver to you the most amazing experience of youth."

Rose tried to wiggle away from his arms, it all sounds very perverted to her. "Get off!" She said, trying to pinch his arms.

Lee pressed his face on her hair and sighed contentedly. Rose flinched. _Alright, that's just it._ She thought unhappily, as she stopped squirming and focused on her chakra. She gathered her chakra to the parts of her skin that Lee is touching, including her hair, and expelled them. Lee was immediately thrown off.

Lee was very much surprised. In his usual dreams, Sakura would always be very gentle and kind. She also really loves him in those dreams. But as of the moment, Sakura has thrown him off and was now running away. _Must be a nightmare_. Lee thought to himself. Shrugging, he chased her anyway. He decided he'll make most of this strange dream.

"Do wait for me my beloved! Do not leave me suffering without your presence!"

Rose threw a dark look at him. _What in the world is his problem?!_ Rose thought as she saw him getting ready to really chase her. She blinked a few times and really stared at him while she's still running. She doesn't feel any chakra manipulation from him. His surprising speed earlier that allowed him to wrap himself around her was purely physical strength.

 _Well then._ She focused her chakra on her feet and gathered chakra from the air around her. Lee sprang into action. One moment, he was just crouching by the spring. The next, he was 20 meters away, exactly where she was running. However, as he appeared there, Rose was also gone. Instead, she appeared right behind him, so fast it was as if she got there after a blink.

She smirked at the surprise that registered on his face. She gathered chakra to her fists and punched the guy with all her might. Lee was catapulted back to the spring, and the force of his arrival broke the rocks around it.

Rose landed on her feet. And satisfied with seeing the now unconscious guy by the spring, she nodded to herself and went on her way.

A few minutes after, Lee suddenly jumped to his feet and crouched in position. "What happened?" He asked himself, looking at the now thrashed spring. He feels an intense pain on his shoulders and vaguely wonders why it hurt that bad if he hasn't done anything but do his usual exercise. He scratched his head in wonder. But in looking around, he spotted a fallen Sakura flower about 20 meters away from the spring.

He gasped, suddenly remembering what transpired earlier. He ran towards the flower and picked it up with care.

"It was real?" He softly asked himself. He touched the part of him that aches and realized that it must be from Sakura's punch. "IT WAS REAL!"He screamed, extreme joy flooding his expression. He jumped in excitement and whooped. After his mini celebration, clutching the Sakura flower and holding it to his chest, he paused and took a deep breath.

"I must tell the others." He told himself as he made his way towards the training grounds.

KLAJDLKASJDLKASJDLSAJDLKASJDLSAJDKSAJDKSAJDLA

Rose was out of breath as she reached the market area once more.

"Hey Rose, what happened to you?" Allison said, concerned of her friend who was breathing hard. She jogged up to Rose and put a hand on her back, rubbing comfortingly. "Did something happen?"

Rose shook her head. "Nothing dangerous. Just a weird perv who managed to hug me."

Allison looked at her, startled. "Really? That's new! Usually, no one is fast enough to catch up. Well except James."

Rose ignored the James comment. "This is a weird place. But Allison, have you not seen Calvin anywhere?"

Allison shook her head no. "Rose, I'm getting worried. This is getting too long of a joke."

Rose nodded her head in concern, letting her eyes travel across the streets. "I know. Maybe we should stop splitting up and look together. We'd have more eyes to look."

Allison nodded.

But even before they can start looking, a deep hair raising voice called out to them.

"Looking for this?"

They immediately spun around to find Calvin in the hands of a man whose skin was so dry and pale, he looked like a walking corpse. His eyes is completely white, but it was blazing with sick excitement as he tightened his grip around Calvin's neck. Calvin choked.

"Calvin!" Allison cried, almost running towards them if Rose didn't hold her arm to stop her.

"Al, we have to be smart about this. Don't attack carelessly." She whispered. Allison shivered, grasping Rose's hand for support.

"I see that you have successfully made it here. None of you died." He said, his voice echoing weirdly, as if he is speaking from a long tunnel. His teeth are almost falling off but it surprisingly looks sturdy as he grinned at them, blood lining his outer teeth.

Rose positioned herself, ready for a fight. "What do you intend to do here?" She asked, her voice steady.

The man raised his brows. "Do you even know where we are?"

Rose pulled out the map she got from a flower shop. "Ko-no-ha-ga-ku-re." She stated. She turned back to the man. "There. So tell us now, what do you intend to do here?"

The man shrugged. "You should be grateful to me." He said, tilting his head at her, fixing her a curious glare.

Rose scoffed. "While you have my friend in a death lock? Yeah thank you very much." She said sarcastically, she inched nearer. The man tightened his grip more. Calvin's face was going paler by the second.

"Don't move or I snap his neck." He said lazily. Rose cursed under her breath. "What do you want?"

The man clicked his tongue wistfully. "For you to go F*cking home and mind your own business."

Rose rolled her eyes. "I didn't come all the way here to get scolded by a sicko man and get sent home."

The man laughed. "Well Sweetie. You got that wrong, because my mission is already finished. But boss is kinder than me, I would like to add the trace of your blood on my coat." He gestured to the coat draped over him, and sure enough, it was the color of deep red.

Allison dropped on her knees and bent to vomit on the ground, realizing why the coat was as richly dark red as it is, filled with the blood of dead people.

The man laughed, flicking his hands as a dark shadow appeared in his hand. He held it against Calvin's neck. Calvin flinched as blood started dripping from where the shadow hit him.

"Calvin!" Allison screamed. Rose raised her hand to stop her.

"Who's your boss?" Rose asked, her eyes following the shadow held against Calvin's throat carefully.

The man regarded her, eyes twinkling. "And I would tell you because?"

Rose raised her shoulders, eyebrows raised. "Because you're about to kill us anyway?"

The man chuckled darkly. "I can see why the people adore you, even those from my kind. But I'm not stupid my dear. All I can say is this, you thwarted his plans, so you get to go to hell with me. Then you can make me laugh forever."

Rose clapped her hands together. "Okay then, let's go to hell. ALLISON NOW!"

Allison brought down her fists to the vomit on the ground, or so the man thought it was vomit. It was herbal strings, catapulted to Calvin's feet during Allison's show of vomiting, and wrapped around subtly on his form during Rose's seeming interrogation.

The man cursed angrily.

Allison flexed her fingers on the strings, grabbed a handful and latched herself to Rose's legs. Rose forced her chakra to travel down the strings and mixed her chakra to Allison's herbal support elements.

In a matter of seconds, the man didn't even have time to let go of Calvin as the high pressure energy reached them from the strings.

He can only blink as a bright orange light engulfed him.

BOOM!

SDJHADSKJDLKAJSLKAJSJDKSJFLKSJDLKSAD

At the training grounds, a tall and lean man with short blond hair and striking blue eyes jumped from tree to tree, snickering, his whisker markings on his cheeks rising as he does so, at the seemingly silly chase he has initiated.

"Give it up Sasuke-teme, you can't touch me if your life depended on it." He said, jumping high and landing on the far side of the clearing. He was wearing a black elastic forehead protector over his forehead, and a black jacket with an orange zipper and buttons, along with his traditional orange pants. On his left arm is a red band with the Uzumaki crest on it.

"Dobe." Another man said who landed right across him, crouching in preparation of attacking. This other man has long spiky black hair with a blue tint which smoothly falls down his head, covering his left eye completely. He was wearing a black high collared shirt under a mid-riff exposing flak jacket, along with light blue pants. His coal black eyes were staring daggers at Naruto.

"Sasuke-Teme, the deal was just to touch me with even just one finger. It's been over an hour now!" Naruto said, cackling loudly. "Remember the deal, if I win, you pay for my ramen tonight!"

Sasuke straightened from his crouching position and carelessly threw a kunai at him.

Naruto easily deflected the loosely thrown kunai. " Hey! No tools! What are you- Teme! Where are you going?!"

When Naruto looked up, Sasuke was already walking away.

"Temeeeee! Don't leave! I won't have my dinner tonight if you do! Come on, how hard is it to touch me!" Naruto wailed, running after Sasuke, making sure to keep a safe distance away just in case he decides to play again.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, continuing his walk.

"Teme. Sasuke! Talk to me! You give up already? Are you so weak now you can't even lay one small finger on me? I thought we're the superior ultimate equal!"

Sasuke sighed. "You're on your Nine Tails Chakra mode."

Naruto looked down on his glowing orange self. Smirking, he turned back at his rival. "So what?"

Sasuke just rolled his eyes and walked faster.

"Okay, okay. You think I'm cheating. But come on, of course you'd be able to touch me if I don't go Nine Tails!" Naruto complained.

Sasuke turned to him. "Would you allow me to use my Blaze Release then?"

Naruto's mouth dropped open. "NO WAY! What are you gonna do, kill me?"

Sasuke shook his head and continued to walk, muttering "Pay your own ramen." under his breath.

"Temeeeeeeee, I'm hungry. Please treat meeeee. Or play the game with me, I promise to play fair now!" Naruto begged, itching to grab Sasuke's arm and pull it to stop him from walking. But touching Sasuke will make him lose.

"No more Nine Tails chakra?" Sasuke asked, still looking straight ahead.

Naruto shuffled on his feet. "Uhmmmm"

"Ah." Sasuke simply responded.

Naruto stomped his feet, crossing his arms.

"I'm going to go and challenge Kiba."

"Hn."

"He's going to be my new Teme."

"…"

"Because you're lousy."

"…"

"YOU'RE WEAK!"

"…"

"YOU'RE-" Naruto paused, thinking of a new insult. It was hard to have a battle of insults with someone who doesn't respond at all. "YOU'RE UGLY!"

"Sasuke-kun!" A loud female voice screamed urgently, running towards them.

"Oy Ino! Don't encourage him! I just told him he's ugly." Naruto said, reprimanding the blond kunoichi who was currently red on the cheeks. She was with Sai, and both seemed out of breath.

Ino looked up at him, confused. "Who's ugly?"

"SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto said in a loud voice.

Sai tilted his head in confusion. "Sasuke is not ugly. Sakura is."

Naruto shook his head exasperatedly. "Not the nickname Sai. I mean Sasuke is really ugly."

Ino raised a brow. "No, he's not."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "I mean as compared to me. He can never be anything but ugly next to me."

Ino nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe. Your fangirls would support that."

Naruto's cheeks redden at her comment. Ino shook her head though, amused at the once foolish ninja that everyone thought he was. It was true, Naruto is so popular that people from everywhere come to visit him and send him gifts. As a matter of fact, it was so hard to find him today because Naruto has resorted to hiding to get away from the girls who hounded him all day.

Suddenly, Sasuke appeared beside Naruto. He pointed out his pointing finger and touched Naruto's shoulder.

"Tonight. My ramen." He simply said before turning his back on them and walking away. "Dobe."

A few seconds passed in stunned silence. And then,

"SASUKE YOU TEME! I WAS TOTALLY UNPREPARED! I CAN'T PAY FOR YOUR RAMEN! I DEMAND A REMATCH!" Naruto's loud voice boomed throughout the clearing. He ran after Sasuke.

Ino snapped out of her distracted self. "Hey you two wait! Stop. I SAID STOP! THERE'S AN EMERGENCY!"

Naruto stopped on his tracks and turned to look at her.

Ino took a deep breath. "It's about the ugly one."

"Sasuke?" Sai asked innocently. Ino punched him exasperatedly.

"No! Sakura! You named her!"

Sasuke stopped walking.

Sai rubbed his hit arm. "But we were talking about an ugly Sasuke for the past few minutes."

"Guys, the point?" Naruto said, walking towards them. "What about Sakura-chan? Do you know where she is?"

"Naruto, she's-"

"N-N-Naruto K-kun!" A soft voice called to him urgently.

Naruto turned just in time to catch Hinata who run straight to his arms.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun." She said, her eyes wide with regret. "I lost her."

Naruto steadied her on her feet. "What?" He asked, looking straight at her. She blushed, but she focused on meeting his eyes. She needs to tell him. She already lost Sakura. The least she can do is tell him.

"It was-"

"Guys! Friends of Youth! I have some big news to tell!" Lee sprinted towards them, his steps with a spring in them.

Naruto scratched his head. "Too many things happening. One by one okay? What's going on?"

Lee jumped infront of him and grinned wide. "She's here! She's-"

Then suddenly, a loud explosion resounded, a cloud of smoke going up above the trees.

Ino gasped. "It looks like it came from the market area!"

Sai's expression turned serious. "It's a weekend, people were swarming around that place."

Naruto turned towards the explosion. "Well guys, I guess your news will have to wait." He jumped and then he appeared beside Sasuke. "Teme."

Sasuke just nodded. Quickly glancing at each other, they made their way to the market.

\


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **A/N: Okay, time to answer some reviews. Guys can you help me out? I really can't see the reviews in my profile. I only really see them in gmail. That's why I end up answering the reviews here. But remember, IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE REVIEWS AND MY RESPONSES TO THEM, THEN GO AHEAD AND PROCEED WITH THE STORY. IT'S FINE, I PROMISE. But anyway so!**

 **there was one review that asked about how Sasuke will react to seeing Sakura again. You'll see the answer to that in this chapter! Admittedly, I was enjoying so much in recreating Naruto's world that I forgot about building them up hahahaha. But I'll do my best in this chapter and hope that it will be okay. It also asked me if James will appear again looking for Rose's love. Hmmm, well I can't really reveal James' relationship with everyone yet because I believe that it's part of the fun to surprise people. James will return yes, but James and Sakura/Rose? I'm honestly curious though, did they really sell as a couple? I think in one of my previous chapters, when the girls were clinging to Calvin, James insinuated that Rose is gay because she doesn't find them (James and Calvin) attractive. And then Rose said that when she thinks about love, she remembers a fan symbol on somebody's back that she used to stare at(It was actually the Uchiha crest, as I hope was clearly described when Sakura herself tried to describe it to them) But then again maybe the build up can go that way too. We'll see ;) Finally, it asked me who the bad boss is. Well, I can't reveal that yet. It will be one of the characters in the other world that I have mentioned in the previous chapters. ^_^**

 **are also comments who were really affected with my cliff hanger. HAHAHAHA. I'm sorry guys, I really didn't mean it! It's just that when I was typing in Word, I was already on the 13** **th** **page. So I knew I had to cut it. And if I was cutting it, then I better make a really well written cliff hanger as I can. So maybe I overdid it, but it was fun nonetheless. Well, fun for me. Hahaha sorry. I'll make up in this chapter I promise.**

 **And for everybody hanging on in this story, thank you so much! So this is it guys! The big reunion! I tried playing it in my head a lot of times. If you think this goes bad, please comment on the reviews so we can make this better. Lez do this!**

 **PS: I have already started to include here my research about the western mythology. They won't be 100% accurate since I will try to fit them in my story so that means I have to alter them on some ends. The West has some interesting mythologies actually. But here we are now. Anyway, thank you all!**

 **PPS: This is going to be one very long chapter. Brace yourselves.**

 _Previously_

 _Then suddenly, a loud explosion resounded, a cloud of smoke going up above the trees._

 _Ino gasped. "It looks like it came from the market area!"_

 _Sai's expression turned serious. "It's a weekend, people were swarming around that place."_

 _Naruto turned towards the explosion. "Well guys, I guess your news will have to wait." He jumped and then he appeared beside Sasuke. "Teme."_

 _Sasuke just nodded. Quickly glancing at each other, they made their way to the market._

ASKJSLKAJSLKAJDKLASJKLAJSLKAJSLKA

NOW

Two men landed on top of two poles that stood beside each other.

One of them quickly surveyed the area below, his blue eyes going around as he looked on below, his short blond hair ruffling in the wind.

"Sasuke, it looks like there was no damage at all." He said, noting that people are indeed running away from the smoke. But there was no fire, no people laying unconscious, no black marks to show burns in the ground. Nothing. It's as if the explosion didn't happen, except for the smoke that is erupting from a single area.

The one who was called Sasuke nodded. "I think we should still inspect the area, Naruto. Maybe we're missing something." He said in a low voice. His black eyes are trained on the spot where the smoke is emanating from, but the smoke is too thick to really survey through.

But just when they were about to jump down from their poles, the smoke cleared, as if sucked away.

"YOU B*TCH! I WILL TAKE 5 OF YOUR PEOPLE WITH ME TO HELL THEN I'LL GET YOU!" A loud horrible scream came from the middle. The voice sounded like it was coming from a long tunnel, echoing as if it came from the ends of the earth and not from an open area like this market.

There stood a man who looked like Death run through with him twice. His skin looks like it will crumble any time, and it looks so lifeless and pale. And unlike Sai's healthy white, this one looks like a preserved corpse, with a crumpled white skin….who was currently focusing his attention on two kids who were trapped between him and the way out of the market.

"I'll start with you two lucky sons of b*tches, always seem so happy because of a happy childhood. I'll take you to the place where people like me…" He scratched at his skin and it peeled off, revealing a bleeding muscle underneath. The kids screamed in fright, clinging on to each other as tears started pouring down their eyes. The man laughed murderously. "….where people like me actually grow up."

He raised his arms and black smoke seem to rise from under the ground.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly sprung into action.

"Hey!" Naruto screamed. "Over here you ugly corpse!" He makes some jutsu hand signs, and with a poof, there were 8 complete replicas of him, all charging towards the man.

The man turned his attention away from the kids.

Suddenly, Sasuke appeared right behind the kids. Without a word, he carried the two and jumped quickly to the roofs and run to take them to the exit of the market area.

The man's gaze followed Sasuke and the kids as soon as he realized what happened. He grunted and rolled his eyes, irked at the effective distraction that was done against him.

"Okay then." He said in a rather amused voice. "Then I'll be taking you two. You're just like her, YOU CAN'T MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS." As he was saying this, the clones had already started to attack. They simultaneously tried to place a kick on him as they surround him. But the man sunk on the ground and disappeared beneath it.

Naruto frowned in annoyance. He got one of his clones and conjured a Giant Rasengan as fast as he could, and with all the force he could muster, he pushed the Giant Rasengan straight to the ground where the man disappeared.

The ground cracked open, and sure enough the man was there, standing casually, looking up at him with eyes twinkling dangerously. The man grabbed Naruto's arm which was stretched forward since he broke the ground with his Rasengan, and the man used Naruto's arm to pull himself out of the hole and onto level ground.

Unknown to the man, Sasuke has already returned and was now standing a few meters behind him. Sasuke crouched low, being as quiet as he can so the man won't notice him. He shook his arm so that his sleeve will be pushed up, then he muttered under his breath, "Chidori." The air cackled with its electric force as Sasuke quickly run towards the man. He jumped and directed his fall to the man so his Chidori would reach contact.

The man faced him and merely glanced at him, grinning, showing his almost falling teeth. Then from behind him, Naruto jumped up. He has a Rasen Shuriken in his hand, the wind is whistling loud with it, and then he was jumping to the direction where Sasuke is going to fall. Upon estimation, their techniques would hit each other in seconds.

 _Sh*t. I can't stop._ Sasuke thought in panic. "Naruto, what are you doing!" He growled in rage. But Naruto didn't answer. Looking at him in anger, Sasuke saw that Naruto's eyes are compeletly black. The man must have done something to him.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes as he expected to contact with Naruto's also powerful jutsu and braced himself for a big explosion, the way it always does when his chidori and Naruto's rasengan meet. The last time it happened, it cost him his left arm. He's handicapped at the moment, not having one other arm, but he doesn't care. It's a constant reminder of the cruel things he has done in the past. Losing his arm is losing that evil part of him which almost destroyed his humanity and his friends. But losing his other arm in this situation is not acceptable at all, especially if a crazed Naruto would be the one to deliver it. Nevertheless, there's no stopping this. Sasuke held his breath.

But a second before they make contact, a hand came in between their Jutsu. And almost immediately, Naruto's Rasengan and his Chidori disappeared. And before they can crash at each other, a flash of pink came in between them and pushed them towards opposite sides.

Sasuke tried to summersault so that he lands on his feet, but a hand grabbed his arm so he came crashing back to the ground and landed on his behind.

He groaned at the impact.

"Ooops sorry. I was supposed to pull you to safety, but you were jumping the other way so." A strange and sweet familiar voice told him, a hand presented infront of him, probably an offer to pull him up.

He froze, knowing who owns this voice.

He couldn't mistake this for the world.

He had always heard this voice, even when he was still in the Academy, hounding him every minute of the day, nagging him with every excuse to spend time with him.

And he continued to hear this voice when he finally graduated and got himself to his first official team, a voice that would always call to him for help, a voice always laced with concern for him more than anything else, even more than the mission, and even more than their other teammate, Naruto.

And he would still hear this voice when he decided to move away from the village, always begging him to come back, and at some point, a false declaration of loyalty to kill him. But to the very end, he would hear this voice forgive him, in tears and in between sobs, but filled with emotion as she tried to insult him, failing miserably for the obvious forgiveness present in her voice.

And until his decision to leave the village to find himself, he would hear this voice bid him farewell, even shyly suggesting that she come with him.

No, he would always recognize this voice.

"Hey. Are you alright? Come on get up. You need to move out of the way. Your…ummm..friend will be back soon." The voice called to him again.

Slowly, Sasuke willed himself to look up.

She was standing infront of him, but behind her is the high sun. It was so bright that Sasuke squinted a little bit before he finally got to really see the person standing infront of him.

 _Sakura_.

He thought, holding his breath. She blinked a few times, then shook the hand she was offering for him to take, trying to tell him to hurry up and take it. But then she smiled at him, that familiar smile she uses when she would turn an appreciative glance at him, which she does all the time, but there's a flash of a mysterious hint to it now.

 _She changed._ He mused, watching her. She was leaner and she looks like she has taken care of her appearance well. She always used to do that when they were kids. But after she got her hair cut off at the Chunin Exam, she cared less about it. Keeping her hair short for convenience, and not really caring anymore what she looks like. But today, as she stood there before him, she looks dazzling. Her pink hair was braided around her head, and there were strands only coming loose because she was moving for a fight. She was wearing a tight pink tube that has a slit by her bellybutton, so that it shows. She has on a black pants that fit her waist and legs nicely.

Sasuke usually holds distaste for girls who worry too much about their looks. But there was something about the way Sakura holds herself at the moment that makes her seem different. He realized that it's not Sakura's appearance that made her seem different. It's the way she stands. It's the way she holds her hand out infront of him. It's the way she had fearlessly jumped between them in the midst of a dangerous collision and seem to come out of it unscathed.

 _She's more confident._ Sasuke decided, meeting her determined eyes. She was ready for a fight, but the look in her eyes seem to say "I got this." And this is what makes her so different. Sakura would always be the one at the back who would worry. She would fight fearlessly with them, but she knows her limits. She knows that there's an end to the strength she has. This is the reason why as some villagers said, Sakura had screamed Naruto's name for help when Pain was destroying the village. She worries and supports. But her eyes now seem to assure him that everything will be alright, that she will take care of everything.

Confused, he hesitantly took her hand. Her skin was warm and soft, but her grip was firm as she steadily pulled him up.

 _She's stronger._ Sasuke decided. He hasn't seen it for himself. But Sakura has the aura that makes you feel like you'll be safe with her. Despite the chaos around him, it makes him feel like he can depend on her. Which is a first. In all honesty, he has only ever felt so confident and calm if Naruto was the one who got his back. Sakura would always be just the extra. She would heal them when they got hurt. She can eliminate some annoying enemies. But that's just behind the actual scenes. The ones who would still really defeat the main enemies are him and Naruto. But today, her firm grip on his hand tells him that she's got everything under control.

"Sakura." He breaths, almost a whisper. But she heard him. She looked at him with curiosity in her eyes, but in its depths is also wonder. This is the way she always looks at him. Even when he tried to kill her. She looked at him then with regret and anger, but there is always the hidden wonder in her eyes that tell of her love for him.

Her forehead creased under his gaping stare. "What?" She asked, blinking at him. She looked down at herself, wondering what there is to see that made this man stare at her like he saw a ghost.

He sighed. He is guilty. That's what all of this is about, why he was concerned when Ino hinted that she found Sakura, why he feels unsettled when she's finally standing infront of him. When he found out that she left just when he returned, he felt guilty. He knew that a part of the reason why she left was because of him. Maybe she wanted to follow him. Maybe she just really wanted to find herself. But Sasuke knew that he was a big part of her life. And if she felt misplaced and unimportant, then he would also be a big part as to why she felt that way. Maybe he should have let her come with him. Maybe he should have told her that she is fine the way she is in more expressive words than a simple tap on her forehead that he gave her affectionately before he left.

Then she just disappeared. At least when he was gone, he would still make contact with Naruto and Kakashi in emergencies. Sakura just disappeared without a trace. She never contacted anyone and none of the countries ever saw her. They said they would definitely know if Sakura came to visit them, especially with that bright glowing pink hair. But she was just gone. Naruto and the others started to worry. But no matter how much they investigate, her trail was cold.

It made him feel guiltier than ever. He never told Naruto this, but he blamed himself for Sakura's disappearance. He feels like he might have been able to change things if he did things differently. During his travels around the world in repentance, Sakura had been one of the people he tried to forgive himself for. Before his fight with Naruto, she declared her love for him once more, and he brushed it away as cruelly as he can.

" _The truth is…. I've always known in my heart, there was nothing I could have done for you. But I love you!" Sakura cried after him, tears running down her cheeks._

" _No matter what's happened, I still care about you more than I can bear. If I could have taken all your pain onto myself to comfort you, I would have." She lowered her head, shoulders shaking as she sobbed. Her tears started falling to the ground._

" _And here we are again. And still, all I can do is sit here and cry. I'm so pathetic." Her lips pursed determinedly. "But Sasuke-kun! If I still have a place somewhere in your heart, no matter how small it may be. Then please…..I'm begging you, don't slip any further away. If we just stayed together…forever….then I'm sure, someday, things would go back to the way they used to be."_

 _Then slowly, Sasuke turned towards her. He only glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, then said. "You really are damned annoying." Then he rushed towards her and drove his hand straight through her heart._

His killing her was was just genjutsu, an illusion. A vision he let her see so that she will fall unconscious and not follow him and Naruto as they go towards their final battle. But what Sakura saw might have scarred her for a long time. And even then, he had no remorse for her.

" _Sakura Never stopped wanting to save you. Never." Kakashi said in a low dangerous voice, as he watched Sakura's unconscious form on the ground._

 _Sasuke didn't even flinch. "Was she having fun in her little make believe fantasy of love? As for me. I have absolutely no reason to love her, and likewise, I can see no reason why she would love me."_

 _Kakashi turned to him in anger. "The only time you need a reason is to hate someone! Besides, all Sakura wanted just now was to be yours!" Kakashi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "She only wanted to save you! This girl here…who you've been more than ready to kill…Even now, she's crying tears filled with thoughts of you. Because she loves you so much it's breaking her heart!"_

 _Sasuke finally looked back to glance at Kakashi. Then he turned his gaze on the seemingly sleeping girl. His mind filled with the memory of his family, of his father, mother, and his selfless brother Itachi. It's a feeling that tells him he probably cares, deep in his heart. But it is too late. Everything is too late. So he turned away again. "That's probably just….chains from a failed past that she's feeling."_

He was indeed an unfeeling creature before. But that all changed now. As he was lying with Naruto on the rocks, their arms both lost, and they were both unable to move, he was able to really think about everything. At first, it was just about Naruto. How he finally understood why Naruto had never given up on him, because Naruto confessed that he hurts when he, Sasuke, is also hurt. And he realized that he felt the same way. He would hurt when the shadow of his family in the team 7 would get hurt. He accepted his loss with Naruto and had wanted to die in sacrifice, but Naruto insisted that he help in aiding the development and healing of the village. Sasuke claims that he might respect Naruto, but Naruto's the only one he does respect. But he only thought that at first. Because eventually, as he had finally recognized his bond with his best friend, his eyes also opened on the other things that was actually important to him. And the first thing that came to him was Sakura. She rushed towards them and sadly looked at their lost arms. She immediately started healing them. Sasuke had apologized and she pretended to be angry, calling him a jerk. But she was shedding tears with concealed joy, and they knew that Sasuke was forgiven.

He thought to himself that Sakura had always been there for him. That no matter what he did to her, she continued to believe in him and stick on with her love. It's a shame on his part to have someone so pure dedicate her great love to him through the years in his absence and through the times when he was just pure evil.

As he returned to find her gone, the guilt dug itself more in his chest. And it continued to grow the longer she was gone.

And now she was here, as radiant as ever. And as he gazed at her, who was shuffling awkwardly at her feet now, conscious under his gaze, Sasuke realized that it was more than guilt that disturbed him whenever he thought about her. He was genuinely worried because he really cared about her. She was one of the constants in his life. Not having her in Konoha has been weird. There were still a lot of girls who would hound him. It was funny that he had to share this burden now with Naruto, and that they had to make their escape together. But Sakura will always be different. She's that girl that should have always been beside them to scold them and worry about them. That girl who would tie them together when they were in a chaos. She was the sweetness in their team. And being without her feels hollow, as if they were imbalanced. Sai has been an annoying replacement, once replacing him, and now replacing Sakura. The guy gets on his nerves every now and then, although he's admittedly growing on him. Sakura's presence is still different.

In her own way, she was also important to him. The relief he feels now as he looks at her is only proof of that. Sakura is one of the persons he really cherished. She is a constant. And selfish as he is, he appreciated that and he missed that. She was gone for too long.

She gazed at him with a strange look in her eyes. She bit her lip shyly and moved her eyes away from his intense gaze. They were just like that for a few seconds. And then she suddenly snapped her fingers. She looked back at him with a frown. "You have a crush on me, don't you?." She sighed, as if exasperated. She flipped her hair and shook her head at him.

Sasuke blinked at her, shocked at the sudden statement. That was bold and unexpected. Sakura has always been just shy and conscious around him. But now she was looking at him with a disapproving look and a deep frown playing on her lips. This feels new. Sakura stepped back and looked at him with raised brows. Her eyes travelled slowly from his feet and up towards his face.

Sasuke looked at her incredulously. _Is she…..checking me out? Infront of me? So obviously and deliberately?_ He was speechless.

"Well, I guess you're nice to look at. You don't look pretty bad yourself." She let go of his hand and gazed at him thoughtfully. "Stare at me all you like, but it's just a pretty face." She said in a soft voice, shrugging. "Although I do like your pretty face too." She whispered, almost inaudibly. Sasuke has an urge to laugh. But of course, being him, he didn't. He opted to just look at her with amusement.

 _She's so unexpected._ Sasuke thought. This is surprising because Sakura is one of the most predictable people he knows. Her feelings are straightforward and she does things based on her emotions. She's still doing it now but there are no more barriers to her. Just like right now, she openly voiced out that she thinks he admires her and then immediately conceded that she admires him too. It was so honest, not even coy or playful. Just straightforward thoughts. She was held back by limits and judgments and consciousness before. _She looks….free._ He decided as he watched her. So she did change. He's deciding if it's for the better or for the worse when she finally looked at him in the eye and gave him a small smile, her eyes crinkling in newfound humor. He decided that it's refreshing. Girls attack him by trying to make him like them. Sakura's approach is by telling him how it is. Sasuke almost chuckled. Almost.

"Rose, the other guy is getting up and- Oooooohhh what is this?" A man with gold hair said as he run up to them. He looked at the two of them excitedly.

Sakura grinned. "This guy has a crush on me! He thinks I'm pretty." Sasuke couldn't stop his mouth from falling open for her boldness. Calvin scoffed and pretended to vomit.

"Jeez woman you should know how to flirt. It never works if you tell them to their face how quite attractive you are. They will tell you that themselves."

Sakura crossed her arms. "Well this one is a man of few words. All he ever said was the color of my hair, _Sakura_ he said. We seize opportunities infront of us."

Calvin sighed. "You probably scared him away now. She did, didn't she, Mr. handsome?" Calvin said, turning to Sasuke.

Sasuke just looked at them in confusion. _Who are these people? They seem familiar with Sakura._ He turned to her again, uncertainty clouding his eyes.

Sasuke stepped towards her. "Sakura-"

"Oooooooh! The handsome ones are always the ones to give you a nickname. Sakura means Cherry Blossom doesn't it?" Calvin said.

Sakura beamed at Sasuke. "Yes?" She replied to him sweetly. Calvin's mouth dropped open. "Oh my God. Wait, you really like him! You're not just being your cool usual self. YOU REALLY LIKE THIS ONE! Hey Mister, did she tell you she likes you?" Sasuke just continued to fix his gaze on Sakura, opting not to answer. Calvin turned to Sakura in disbelief. "And I always thought you were lesbian! Never thought you preferred the hot village guys."

Sakura raised her chin defiantly. "Just because I didn't go gaga over you and James , then it already means that I'm lesbian! That's so judgmental."

Calvin smirked at her evilly. "Fine then. I dare you to get this man to date you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well that won't work since you dared me INFRONT OF HIM you idiot."

"Calvin!" A girl with curly black hair run up to them. "Are you okay now? Me and Rose performed the concentrated explosion on you and….what? You don't remember again? You know, I attached my herbal strings to you so you're cloaked in a protective shield and then anything you're touching will explode. But it will be the only thing to explode, everything around it will be unharmed. Oh you're so stupid sometimes Calvin. Anyway, are you back to your senses now? You had black eyes earlier and you started attacking us and leading us to the forest and-"

Calvin tapped her head. "Relax Allison, Lover girl Rose here removed the black energy from me."

Allison's brow furrowed. "Lover girl?"

Calvin lowered his voice in a whisper, but not low enough that they won't hear. "Rose just tried to flirt with this guy, genuinely. And she sucks at it." He gestured to Sasuke.

Allison gasped. She turned to Rose. "You're not lesbian?"

Rose stomped her feet in exasperation. "Why does everyone think I'm gay! I'm a hot blooded woman! And I do not suck at flirting!" She turned to Sasuke with hopeful gleaming green eyes. "I don't, right?" Sasuke just stared at her. She grinned.

"That means yes!" She declared. Allison raised her brows. "That could also mean no."

Sakura stomped her feet in exasperation now. "You know what, let's stop talking about that shall we? We need to move."

Sakura turned to Sasuke. "Come on, let's go." She held her hand out to him.

Calvin chuckled. "Ahhh Rose wants to hold hands." Sakura immediately dropped her hand and scowled at him. "Fine. You go take him." Then rolling her eyes, she jumps out of sight.

Allison gaped after Sakura's disappearing view. "Oops. She might have been really pissed Cal."

Cal shrugged good naturedly. "Come on Allie. Rose finally found a love bone in her body, I'm not about to let her get away with it."

Sasuke shook his head in confusion. _Who are these people? Why are they calling Sakura, Rose?_

Calvin turned to him. "Well come on handsome." He told him. "Let's go." Then they run up towards the direction Sakura disappeared into. Sasuke followed warily, still not sure on what is really happening.

When they finally caught sight of a flash of pink, they found Sakura facing Naruto. Naruto was glowing bright orange, but his eyes are still all black, all the way to the part where the whites are supposed to be.

Calvin raised a stick. But Sakura held her hand up. "No Cal. He's a ball of energy. It's too dangerous. He will be too strong."

Calvin frowned, immediately lowering his wand. "Well then what do we do, we need to stop him before we reach Corpo Seco."

Sasuke caught up to them. "Who's Corpo Seco?" He asked in a clipped voice. It's time that he starts to understand what's going on.

Calvin grinned at him. "Well hello there. Will you be fighting with us?"

Sasuke ignored him and turned to Sakura. "Who's Corpo Seco?"

Sakura glanced at him but quickly returned her focus to Naruto. She gestured towards the other girl who she called Allison earlier. So Allison nodded and turned to him. "He's a Dry Corpse, a man so evil that the earth would rot its flesh and the devil would return his soul. Condemned to wander fruitlessly the earth until the judgment day. He's from the Brazen village. But he was supposed to have been expelled from the village a long time ago. Legends say that he had lived in the isolated south for a long time now. Why he's here, we only could guess."

Sasuke hasn't taken his eyes off Sakura. He asked her again, as if he hasn't heard Allison. "I've never heard of a Brazen village, or an isolated South, or a Corpo Seco."

Sakura threw him a reprimanding look. "Well we never heard of Konoha either so we're all square."

Sasuke's eyes widen at her in bewilderment. _What is she talking about?_

Calvin gasped. "He's coming Rose!" Naruto now has clones all holding big Rasengans in hand. "What do we do?!" He said in panic.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I just told you, he's a ball of energy. This will be a piece of cake for me."

Now Sasuke can't help himself but have his mouth open at Sakura's brave statement. She knows as well as he does just how powerful Naruto is in his Nine Tails chakra mode, and that those Rasengans couldn't be taken lightly, especially giant ones.

But Sakura calmly put her hands together. And immediately, the Rasengans started to shrink, smaller and smaller, until it disappeared with a pop and a little smoke, along with all the clones. Then Naruto was zooming towards them, obviously against his will. He looks like he was thrown towards them, or as if he was magnetized and Sakura holds the magnet. Sakura stretched an arm out with a palm open. Naruto's face was caught exactly on her palm. He started to struggle hard against it, his feet swinging wildly while he is being held up. Sakura put both of her hands against his cheeks, looking like she was caressing them. A faint green light seems to emanate from her hands, then it was slowly filled with black, as if it is sucking such out from Naruto.

The next moment, the blue on Naruto's eyes returned. Then Naruto's body went limp. As if he fainted.

"Naruto!" Sasuke exclaimed, running towards his teammate. Sakura gently put down Naruto's body to the ground. Sasuke knelt before him and quickly examined him. He seems fine. Not even a scratch on him.

He turned to Sakura expectantly. Sakura immediately understood that he's asking if Naruto is okay. "He's just out for a few minutes. Even just a few seconds maybe before he wakes up. I tried as hard as I can to suck the black energy out of him as painlessly as possible." Then she turned to Allison. "Allison." She called. Allison nodded and immediately knelt before Naruto. "On it." She said.

She pulled out a few leaves from her pouch. She used her thumb to pull open Naruto's mouth then she shoved the leaves down his throat.

"Hey!" Sasuke said, his eyes widening. Allison just waved him away, her eyes focused on Naruto. Then a few seconds later. Naruto started choking.

"Naruto!" Sasuke said, his gaze returning back to his fallen friend. Naruto immediately sat up and thumped his chest a few times, as if trying to expel a nasty thing he swallowed.

Allison nodded in relief. "He's fine." She declared and stood up.

Naruto shook his head. "WHAT THE HELL! That was the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted, well next to Sakura's soldier pills. That still holds the ultimate record-" Sasuke nudged him to shut him up, warily looking up at Sakura who maintained a blank expression on her face.

Naruto looked at him annoyed, then slowly followed his glance.

Naruto gasped and visibly froze.

Sakura looked at him cautiously. "Oh no. Maybe he's allergic Allison." She said, worried. She knelt infront of Naruto and put a hand to his forehead. "Hey, are you ok-" But before she can finish her sentence, Naruto's lips trembled then he pounced on her, knocking both of them to the ground.

Sakura yelped in surprise.

"S-Sakura chan!" Naruto wailed, sobbing uncontrollably.

"HEY! What are you- ack!" Sakura said, struggling. Naruto has started to pinch and mold her face as he mounted her.

"Y-You disappeared. A-And we were so w-worried. I-I was s-so af-afraid th-that you d-died! He said, still sobbing. Tears were streaming down his face, sniffing loudly and his voice raspy from crying.

Sakura looked helplessly to her companions.

"I t-tried to s-stop you from l-leaving! I know you are strong but I was still afraid. Anything could happen out there!"

Calvin shrugged. "Expel him with your chakra?"

"A-And then you were gone. And you haven't contacted us. And nobody ever saw you again-"

Sakura shook her head. "I can't. He might get hurt. Help?"

"A-And then there was this inventor who was obviously very suspicious but he insisted that he doesn't know anything and that he doesn't know you even though he was obviously lying-"

Calvin quickly shook his head. "No way. The guy is practically crying over you. I'm not heartless!"

"-and I-I thought that he probably gave you one of his inventions and that it probably went haywire and that you died"-"

Allison nodded in agreement in what Calvin was saying. Sakura pouted and just laid there helplessly, letting Naruto continue with his tirade and mold her.

"Sakura-chan, why? Why would you disappear like that on us! Even Sasuke teme got worried!" He continued his tirade, he now rested his face on her neck, still sniffling and grasping her shoulders tenderly. Sasuke stiffened, looking away, embarrassed. He didn't know that Naruto noticed. But then Naruto notices everything, despite him being dense a lot of times.

For some reason that Sakura cannot phantom, she felt concern at the person currently holding her and emotionally trying to express something that she couldn't understand. She wrapped an arm around him and tapped his back in comfort.

"I'm sorry." She said, even though she doesn't know what she's actually sorry for. She only knew that it was the right thing to say. Naruto sobbed harder.

Calvin scratched his head. "Ummmm guys. I don't understand what's going on, but we need to get moving because our man evil Corpo is back. He's judging us at the moment?"

Sakura immediately sat up, bringing Naruto up with him. "Okay, get off now. We can talk about…mmm…your feelings later." Naruto sighed but let go. His face immediately turned serious as he stood up with Sakura.

"What is he?" Naruto asked, crouching in preparation.

Corpo Seco stood there and had an amused look in his face. "I told you Rose, you should thank me. Did you have an emotional reunion?"

Sakura scowled. "I don't know what you're talking about. And I don't care what destiny cursed on you that should make you stay on earth until judgment day. I would bring you to hell if it's the end of me."

Sasuke and Naruto looked at Sakura in surprise. Normally, that would have been Naruto's line. Sometimes, even Sasuke's. Coming from Sakura, it sounded unfamiliar and weird.

Corpo Seco laughed maddeningly. "Well if you say so, sweetie." He raised his arms and black clouds started to form.

Naruto stood up straight and put his hands on his waist. "Okay, Team 7 is back again! Let's do this!" He puffed out his chest excitedly. "Let's go!" He glanced at Sasuke and they seemed to have an understanding. Together, they quickly formed similar hand jutsus and brought their palms flat to the ground and exclaimed. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Suddenly, a giant toad and a giant snake appeared. Naruto and Sasuke stood at the heads of the big creatures, Naruto on the giant toad and Sasuke on the giant snake.

"Yo." The giant toad said, nodding at everyone.

"You know how it goes. Let's go Gamakichi!" Naruto said with enthusiasm.

"Aoda." Sasuke said, nodding to the snake.

"How can I be of service, Sasuke-sama?" The snake greeted respectfully. Sasuke nodded his head towards the man with the black smoke.

Naruto gave a single nod and they both immediately charged forward. Naruto looked back at Sakura. "Come on Sakura chan! Don't leave us hanging now!"

Sakura looked at them with her mouth hanging open.

"Cal- they're shinobi. I can feel it! They're using chakra. Even the ball of energy that boy was holding, it was a giant concentrated chakra!"

Calvin gasped. "Another shinobi? Who would have thought."

Sakura's eyes looked around. "I wonder where in West are we?"

Allison's head snapped towards Sakura. "Rose, do you really think we're still in the West? We're obviously at-"

"SAKURA! What are you doing?! Come on!" Naruto called again.

Calvin excitedly pointed at Naruto and Sasuke. "Then is that-?"

Sakura nodded in amazement. "The Summoning Jutsu. I've never really tried it because I didn't have the scroll contracts. It was said that you can only really acquire those in the shinobi world. So I never dared to try it."

Calvin nudged her. "Well? Go on. Do it."

Sakura shook her head. "But I don't have a contract."

Calvin raised his shoulders. "They're imploring you to. They probably know better about it than you do seeing that they both performed the jutsu easily."

Sakura hesitated. But she mimicked the jutsu hand signs that they did earlier and brought her palm to the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" She exclaimed, the technique sounding unfamiliar to her.

Suddenly, with a large poof, she was standing on the head of a large slug. The slug was white in color with three blue streaks that run vertically down the middle and side of its body from its head and tapering off at its tail. It looked surprise to be summoned.

Sakura and the slug gaped at each other for a few seconds, just staring at each other. Then Sakura smiled wide. She turned to Calvin and Allison.

"LOOK!" She said excitedly. Calvin pumped his fist in the air for her, cheering her on. Allison gave her a thumbs up.

She looked at the slug again and beamed. "Hi!" She said happily. The slug gazed at her. "Sakura san! You're back! I must inform Milady, Tsunade." Then from the slug sprouted a significantly smaller version of itself which started to crawl away towards another direction. Sakura looked at it with glee. "You can divide yourself!"

The slug threw her a strange look. "Yes. You know that, don't you?" Sakura scratched her head, feeling embarrassed. She doesn't know why she needed to know that, but she felt shy for not knowing anyway. She has always been a know-it-all. She read so much because she knew she needed it to improve her techniques. But she never read past the summoning jutsu which she thought she couldn't do without the scrolls.

She clapped her hands. "Okay, let's go after them!" She pointed towards Naruto and Sasuke who was charging towards the man who was emitting black smoke. The slug nodded meekly. "Okay, hold tight, Sakura-san." The slug said, sounding relieved, as she finally surged forward.

"So. What can you do?" She asked the slug. The slug now gave her a bewildered look. Sakura looked perfectly serious with her question though so the slug decided to humor her. "Okay well, as you should know." The slug replied, putting emphasis on the _you should know_. "I can divide myself into smaller clones to evade attacks or to serve small-scale functions. But I can also quickly reform myself. I can attach myself to injured people, allowing you, my summoner, to channel your chakra through me to heal the injured person. I am also extremely resistant to damage so I can cover people from assaults that might harm them, as I have during Pain's Assault. I may also absorb people into my body, thus protecting them from physical impacts."

Sakura examined the situation and thought about the slug's skills. "Oh, that seems like you're a backup. A support system." But Sakura raised her hand with a smile. "I don't mean that you're weak, it's just that I don't think it will be very helpful at the moment. Because if that is so, then that means that I would have to wait for those 2 guys to make their attacks and heal them if they hurt themselves."

The slug looked a little embarrassed. "Well that's actually our main purpose. We're medic in nature. And besides, it has always been like that."

Sakura rubbed her chin. "Hmmm. Well we can always improvise. Do you have any offensive attack?"

The slug nodded thoughtfully. "Well I have my spit acid using my Tongue Tooth Sticky Acid technique, which is strong enough to melt through rocks."

Sakura turned to the slug excitedly. "Okay, that can do. Let's go forward!"

As they reach, Naruto and Sasuke already started their attacks.

Naruto's giant toad has started spitting out a large white sticky like substance out of its mouth as the toad seemingly grunted, "Mizuame Teppō!"

The man raised his brow at the propelling liquid that was going to go on waves over him. He directed the black smoke towards it. And the next moment, the liquid turned black and it changed its course of direction towards Sasuke and his snake. The snake was extremely fast and nimble as it successfully evaded the attack, slithering quickly to avoid the rain of black liquid that poured on it. The snake slithered towards the man. Sasuke quickly huffed his cheeks. "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Then a volley of small fireballs propelled towards the man. The man flipped his hands and the smoke met the fireballs, turning them black. Then suddenly, they changed direction and headed towards Sakura.

Sakura cursed under her breath. The fireballs were going in different directions, unpredictable as to where will they hit her. She sighed and clasped her hands together. She blew inside her clasped hands, then suddenly, water rose from the ground, covering the entire area where she and her slug are standing and where the balls of fire are travelling on their way towards her. The water filled the entire area. The slug gasped and tried to hold its breath, expecting her senses to be filled with water. But she felt the water around her, and yet she was able to breath. She curiously turned to Sakura.

Sakura smiled a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. The water covered everything except the space we are standing on." And sure enough, the slug looked up and saw a wall of water above them, beside them, all around them. And yet they were both dry. And then after a few seconds, the dome of water fell to the ground in a magnificent splash, the ball of fire extinguished from the wet assault.

"Okay, Miss slug! Now it's our turn!" Sakura said in excitement. The slug turned to her, looking offended. "It's Katsuyu."

Sakura turned to the slug. "What?"

The slug huffed. "Katsuyu. My name."

Sakura shrugged, embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry."

Then Sakura clapped her hands. "Okay, now Katsuyu. I want you to gather the acid in your mouth. But don't spit it. Just let it stay there."

Katsuyu felt weird by the request. By she opted to trust Sakura. Sakura has been weird since earlier, but then she definitely felt stronger. Perhaps she knows what's she's doing. Katsuyu does as she's told, gathering the acid in her mouth, her cheeks puffing out.

Sakura raised her palms forward and exhaled. "Alright, ready?"

Katsuyu nodded. Sakura grinned. And then suddenly, a large figure formed infront of them. A creature that has a long spiky tail and rough scale skin. It has big dark wings and a slit long tongue which poked out of its wide mouth. It was a dragon….made of acidic paste. Katsuyu's eyes widened. Then she realized that the acid in her mouth has lessened.

Katsuyu turned to Sakura. "Did you just…..summon the acid out of my mouth and turned it into that?"

Sakura nodded, not breaking her concentration. "Shhhh. Gather acid into your mouth again, we're not done yet." Katsuyu immediately did as she she's told, amazed by what Sakura is doing.

Sakura stepped back and pushed her palms out. Suddenly, there was a strong wind behind them that propelled the dragon forward. The dragon immediately moved, controlled by the wind, flapping its wings towards the man. Then the dragon huffed, and then it blew a large amount of acid from its mouth, meaning to scorch the man as if it was fire that was blown from it.

The man quickly directed the smoke towards the acid. And then the next moment, the spray of acid directed towards Naruto.

Gamakichi, the toad, immediately raised his giant katana, tanto, and cut through the globs of acid heading towards it.

Sakura bit her lip. "More acid Katsuya." Katsuya gathered more acid in her mouth.

Then the dragon started spitting balls of acid, which propelled towards the man in great speed, that he didn't have time to direct the smoke towards it. The balls of acid hit the man.

Naruto jumped in exhilaration. "Well done Sakura! Although I didn't know how you are doing what you're doing!"

"HEY YOU, STOP JUMPING LIKE A FOOL AND LOOK OUT!" Sakura screamed. Naruto opened his eyes to find the ball of acid turned black and was now heading towards him. Luckily, his toad was also as quick. The toad immediately was able to cut through everything but missed one, which hit Naruto on the shoulder. Naruto cried in surprise and fell on one knee.

Sakura cursed. "That's it for today, Katsuya."

Katsuya glanced nervously at Sakura. "What? But the battle is not over yet."

Sakura shook her head. "No. I don't think this helps. We need to revise another plan."

Katsuya only nodded meekly, still surprised. "As you wish, Sakura san." Then it vanished with a pop.

Sakura immediately run towards Naruto.

Sasuke on the other hand tried to slither his way around the man while he was distracted and attempted to strangle him with his snake.

Sakura turned to Sasuke in panic. "Wait! NO!"

But Sasuke had already wrapped the snake around the man. As soon as the scale of the snake touched the man, the snake immediately turned black.

Sakura wailed in frustration. She halted her tracks towards Naruto and turned to Sasuke. She gathered chakra on her feet. In the blink of an eye, she was beside Sasuke. Sasuke turned to her in surprise.

"Wha-"

Sakura didn't let him finish his sentence as she grabbed his hand and pulled him. In another blink of an eye, they were in a distance away from the snake.

"Sakura, just what-"

Then they heard a frightening hissing. Turning, they saw Aoda who turned completely black and was charging towards them, slithering madly on the ground.

Sasuke immediately raised his hands to release the snake and to make him vanish like Katsuya did, but Sakura held his hand, stopping him.

"Don't. If you release him, he will return to his world still carrying the evil that Corpo Seco imparted on him."

Sasuke scowled. "Then what do we do?"

Sakura turned to the snake. "I'll extract the evil substance from him. You go get your friend."

Sasuke shook his head. "No. I'll do it. I'll go extract the evil from my snake and you go get Naruto."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how?"

Sasuke's eyes flared, realizing that he actually don't know how to do it. "Then how do you do it?"

Sakura sighed. "Complete chakra control equals perfect manipulation of chakra. It means I have control over any entity that utilizes elemental energy or chakra. In that case, I can manipulate your bodies to expel any substance in your body, including the black intent that Corpo Seco injects in your body when you come in contact with his smoke or his skin. So, can you do that?"

Sasuke just stared at her blankly. "Why, can you?" Sakura may be strong now but she can't possibly do what she's claiming to be able to do.

Sakura rolled her eyes. She decided not to answer and proceeded to charge forward to the snake. As soon as they were infront of each other, Sakura flicked her wrist, then fire emerged, surrounding her and the snake.

 _Yes, there's no way out snakey. No way to propel yourself with strength too since there's limited space to move. Now go and wrap yourself around me._

As expected, the snake did start to slither around her, perhaps in an attempt to wrap itself around her. As soon as most of its body is already positioned in a circle, Sakura jumped up quickly from the tight space the snake tried to trap her in and landed swiftly on the snake's head. She brought out a knife and brought it down to the snake, making sure that the knife won't dig too deep, just enough to hold her steady. And then grasping the knife with one hand, she placed her other palm on the snake's head, her hand emanating a green glow. The snake thrashed and about, trying to expel her from its head. But her grip on the knife helped her stay. Soon, black smoke came out from her glowing hands. The snake soon started to calm down.

When she was sure that she got all the black substance from the snake, she flicked her wrist again and the fire died. She pulled out the lightly stabbed knife and jumped down from the snake's head. The snake is unconscious.

Sasuke was running towards her. "Did you do it?"

Sakura glared at him. "I told you to go to your friend. He was hit by my acid balls."

Sasuke shrugged. "He'll survive." _Yeah. Naruto can take anything._

But Sakura sighed in exasperation. "Whatever. Release the snake so that the man won't have opportunity to use him anymore."

Sasuke nodded, wondering why Sakura looks so worried. Naruto has been through a lot. He will hate it if Sakura treats him like a weakling.

Sakura run towards Naruto and found Naruto shaking and grasping his melted shoulder. It was an unwelcome, disgusting sight.

"S-Sakura chan…" Naruto breathed, trying to maintain a brave face.

Sakura sat beside him and put a glowing green hand to his melted shoulder.

Immediately, the shoulder started regenerating.

Naruto gasped. "How are you doing that?"

Sakura smiled at him. "Your body composition is composed of bodily energy that I can control. I only can't on the heart and the brain. I can control the body as long as it's alive. But a hit on the heart or the brain means instant death. I can only regenerate, not resurrect."

Naruto beamed. "Wow. You're always really awesome Sakura-chan."

The toad leaped towards them. "Yo. Naruto. Are you okay now? I watched Aoda attack them and turned bad, So I didn't make a move against the man, incase he turns me bad too."

Sakura nodded. "Smart move. Release him Naruto. We can't have him attacking us too."

Naruto turned to Gamakichi. "Okay, I'll see you next time Gamakichi."

Gamakichi saluted and was gone.

Sasuke run towards them. "Aoda is gone now."

When Naruto's shoulder is completely renewed, he stood up and crossed his arms.

"What do we do now? We can't attack him. He turns all our attacks against us." He said, rubbing his shoulders.

Sasuke turned to Sakura. "You're the one who knows about this creature. What do you think should we do?"

Sakura mused thoughtfully. "Well Corpo Seco is made of pure evil. Obviously as we have witnessed, everything he touched turns evil as well. So we can't do an offensive attack." Sakura bit her lip, deep in thought. "He came from Brazen village. I did missions there several times. They are a village of orphans, raised to be hunters. As they are a village of lost children, there is a certain symbolic entrance they perform before you can truly locate the village. They have a weird fixation with acceptance. To enter, you must face a world of pain and willingly feel them, strip yourself of any self preservation, and perform an act that will signify acceptance to your source of pain. If you do that, your source of pain disintegrates and the gates of the village open. Corpo Seco had rebelled against this action of acceptance, so he was punished by being transformed into a constant source…of…pain…." Realization lit up Sakura's eyes.

"OFCOURSE! That's it! Okay new plan! Calvin, Allison, get over here!"

Calvin and Allison who was standing from a distance away immediately run towards them.

Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other warily. Sakura was taking control.

"Okay listen, I've seen the offensive power you two have. And I think that's a great bait. So you two." He indicated to Sasuke and Naruto. "Will come with me. We will charge towards the man."

Naruto spoke up. "But-"

Sakura raised her hand to silence him. "I want you to keep attacking him. But make sure that he wouldn't be able to touch you or your techniques. Obviously, he would aim to touch your offensive attacks because he can use it against us. I want you to take advantage of that intent to direct him into landing his attacks on me."

Calvin gasped. "No! Not again Rose! You're always doing this!"

Sakura threw him a reproachful look that immediately silenced him. "Make sure that his attacks would always land on me. Do you understand?"

Sasuke looked horrified. "Are you insane? Wouldn't that turn you evil as well?"

Sakura threw her hands in the air. "For God's sake how slow are you?! How many times do I have to tell you that I have complete control on elemental energy. I run on one so that means I can control the substances that go in and out my body. That's why I can suck the energy out of you. That's also why I can approach him without fearing into turning evil."

Sasuke froze in shock of Sakura's outburst. Naruto gaped at her.

Sakura shook her head and turned to Allison. "You know what to do." Allison nodded. "You can trust me." Then she turned to Calvin. "Cal, assist them. Make sure none of Corpo Seco's attacks touch them." Calvin nodded unwillingly.

Sasuke recovered from his shock and cleared his throat. "What's our goal here? It can't be just to let him attack you."

Sakura nodded. "Yes. Our goal is to reach him. I need to be able to touch him."

Naruto sighed. "Okay. Sasuke, let's trust Sakura-chan. She knows what's she's doing." Naruto smiled at Sakura which she willingly returned brightly. Sasuke glared at the two of them, feigning annoyance. But deep down, he was impressed with Sakura taking control. It was unfamiliar and surprising. But here she was. She had kept surprising him and Naruto since earlier. First, the wall of water. They didn't even know she was water element. Then the acid dragon. Given that it was from Katsuya, how she transformed the acid into a dragon and had summoned it directly out of her mouth, they didn't know. Then the wind she used to make the dragon move. Then the ring of fire that she surrounded on herself and Aoda. Her regeneration, and her seemingly truthful claim that she has ultimate control on chakra.

He wonders vaguely what the hell she did on her travels that has given her this much strength. He had a feeling that this isn't even everything she could do.

"Hn." Was all he said in response, watching Sakura from the corner of his eyes. She was standing there brilliantly, her focus trained solely on Corpo Seco as she adjusted the gloves on her hands. Sasuke smirked, knowing that neither Naruto nor Sakura will see him at it.

And so the three of them stood, facing Corpo Seco who had a dark grin on his face.

"Are you ready?" Sakura said, cracking her knuckles.

"Hell Yeah!" Naruto said, pumping a fist in the air. "Sakura chan, you are awesome!"

"…" Sasuke ignored them, thinking about what safe attacks he would do to bait the man.

Calvin and Allison stood behind them, ready as well, with Calvin raising his stick and Allison kneeling and directing her hands in the direction of Sakura.

"Pssst." Allison called to Calvin, making sure none of the other three will hear.

Calvin glanced at her. "What?" He whispered back.

"Don't you think that the three of them work well together?" Allison said, muttering out of the corner of her lips.

Calvin scoffed. "You mean when they had their giant pets turned against them?"

Allison glared at him. "No. I mean the way they move. As if they're in sync. Like…..they're used to working together."

Calvin thought about it then nodded. "Yeah. I've been meaning to ask them that. You know they keep calling Rose, Sakura. I have a feeling it's not just a nickname. Like they actually think her name is Sakura."

"And they all talk as if they know her." Allison said. "And look at her like they're expecting something from her. Like that loud blond." She nodded towards Naruto. "He basically bawled at the sight of her and cried out how she has been missing. Or that handsome brooding guy." She nodded towards Sasuke. "He communicating with Rose with just signals, look in the eye, movement. And strangely, Rose seen to understand them."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Calvin said, a smile forming on his lips.

Allison nodded. "Yes." She said, amused. "I wonder if Rose realizes this or is she being the dense person that she sometimes is again?"

Calvin chuckled softly. "Dense? I think her 2 companions are the ones that's dense. I don't think they realize that Rose doesn't know or recognize them at all."

"Well, they're all dense. They must be friends." Calvin and Allison bit their lip to stop themselves from laughing.

And together, they watched Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura pose offensive stances as they prepared to charge together…..looking like they've done so in their old days.

 **A/N: Okay, I didn't mean to end it this way. It's just that this chapter has been very very long already. Anyway, hang on for the next chapter. I personally call it the confrontation. Thank you!**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 **A/N: Hello folks. No reviews to answer today so I'll keep this short. So what did you think of their reunion? Well they still haven't realized the situation that they are in (The fact that Sakura doesn't really know who they are). So it's still not much of a reunion. So I'll let it go with the flow. I'll probably keep this chapter generally short since I wanted to end the last chapter with Sakura blurting out that she doesn't know shit about anyone. So I decided to let it get on here. There's only a few scenes left before she actually does that, so I guess this might be short.**

 **Anyway, read on! ^_^**

 _Previously_

 _"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Calvin said, a smile forming on his lips._

 _Allison nodded. "Yes." She said, amused. "I wonder if Rose realizes this or is she being the dense person that she sometimes is again?"_

 _Calvin chuckled softly. "Dense? I think her 2 companions are the ones that's dense. I don't think they realize that Rose doesn't know or recognize them at all."_

 _"Well, they're all dense. They must be friends." Calvin and Allison bit their lip to stop themselves from laughing._

 _And together, they watched Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura pose offensive stances as they prepared to charge together…..looking like they've done so in their old days._

NOW

Corpo Seco's laughter echoed loudly over the now empty market. The people who were bustling about just minutes ago have already evacuated as quickly as they can as soon as the bomb that Sakura and Allison planted on the man set off. It was a trick of course. Sasuke heard from the girl that Sakura called Allison that it was a creative bomb meant to only harm the person it will touch. So that meant the explosion would harm nothing else but the man. Even if it wasn't effective in harming Corpo Seco, it was effective in frightening the people away…away from the evil that is Corpo Seco, away from harm, and away from danger. It was ultimately planted there to free the friend that Sakura called Calvin, and to create a loud warning for people to stay away.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura, who was alert and ready to do their plan. Her braided hair was glistening under the sun, and despite the attacks they have done earlier, her braids didn't come off as it is still looped perfectly into a crown that looked like a blooming pink flower with only a few strands that fall down to her pale neck. Her green doe like eyes were narrowed, flashing in anger towards the laughing man. Her tight red tube was securely covering her torso, no matter how bold her movements are in her attacks. Although it did slip down a little so it slightly teases with a little show of her cleavage. Her chest isn't immensely big, but it was plump enough that shows nice and firm breasts.

Sasuke blinked, then quickly looked away, trying not to flush from the way his thoughts had turned. He hadn't meant to ogle at Sakura. He has never been interested in anyone that way. There were many who had thrown themselves at him and had displayed a lot of obscenities that a normal man would have probably given anything to witness. But he was just never interested. He sighed. He's not interested, and he shouldn't be especially to Sakura, she's supposed to be like a sister. _Yeah, a sister whose ass is showing from those hot tight black pants._ Sasuke cursed at himself. Maybe he just missed her. That's all. He's not used to her looking like a woman, instead of looking like the same old Sakura who was childish and just trying to be cute.

"…okay, remember the plan, you have to make sure he hits me, all the time." Sakura was saying. Sasuke shook his head to focus on her voice rather than her ass. "Okay Ready?" She crouched, about to pounce.

"Wait." Sasuke said, unable to stop himself. Sakura turned to him exasperatedly. Naruto glanced at him with the same expression.

"Sasuke, she knows this man more than we do. Let's just listen to her." Naruto told him in a disapproving tone. Sasuke fixed his gaze on Sakura, who didn't flinch at all under his glare. She looked at him directly in the eye with a no nonsense look. Sasuke was impressed. But he cleared his throat.

"Look I'm all for letting Sakura run the show for once. But I want to know why the plan is to let him hit you and why reaching him is our goal? Why is this plan going to work? And if the ending we see here is defeating him? I can't work not understanding anything." He said furiously. This is the longest sentence he had said ever since Sakura had seen him as Rose. Sakura wanted to marvel at the thought. She wants to stay here and let him talk more, he has such a deep mysterious voice, as if it holds deeper meaning than his blank words. But she knows there's no time for that.

So she rolled her eyes and focused once more on Corpo Seco. "Okay then. You can stay here. And you too Naruto. I can work on my own." She said and pounced forward.

"Wait, Sakura, WAIT! I'll help!" Naruto shouted, immediately leaping after her. Sasuke was shocked at her immediate dismissal. But it's probably because she thinks they're wasting time just standing around here and talking. She really is taking control. The taunt goes past him of course. It's a challenge from her. To fight and trust her. Or to stay here and watch. Of course he was going to fight. And she knows it. Cursing, he went after the two.

As he reached them, Sakura turned quickly and grinned at him. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes at her mischievous way to shut him up and make him do what she told him to do.

Corpo Seco's smile widened as he saw them attacking once more.

"Ah you never learn. Don't you see? No attack you throw on me will really hurt me!" He said gloatingly, smoke rising from the ground and flicking as if they're tentacles.

Sakura clenched her fists. "Okay, remember guys, let him hit me. And no matter what happens whenever he hits me, don't stop. I need to be able to trust you on that, okay?"

Naruto visibly gulped. Sakura glanced at him with a soft smile. "You trust me, don't you?"

Naruto looked at her for a few seconds then nodded. "You know I do." He said gently, shaking his head in what they're about to do. But then he punched his palm. "Alright Sasuke, let's do this!"

And as the first tail of black smoke met them, they all jumped out of the way and landed in a formation known to them since they were young, one they do before in their missions as team 7. Naruto beamed at his two teammates. , bristling with excitement. Sasuke was trying to look like he doesn't care, but deep inside, this, working together with two of the closest people to him, feels like home. It's as if his 5 years stay in Konoha ever since he returned didn't matter until all 3 of them are together, as they are now. Sakura on the other hand was confused. She didn't know exactly how she landed here and seemingly formed a position where all 3 of them are functioning perfectly. It was her body who automatically moved her to this position. And even though she's confused, she knew this position was perfect for their plan. So she let the confusion slide.

Naruto and Sasuke were in front while Sakura falls at the back. Before, it was because Sakura was supposed to be assisting the two so she falls back and wait for a circumstance where they'll need help. Naruto and Sasuke would be the main offensive, the absorber of attacks so they are placed evenly at the front. But today, the two were in front to serve as bait, and Sakura's at the back to absorb all the attacks that will come their way. Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other. Naruto's eyes betrays him as they clearly tell Sasuke of his worry about the plan. Sasuke shrugged. To most people, it would look uncaring. But Naruto knew it was Sasuke's way of assuring him, and also to tell him to get his shit together. Naruto found his smile creeping back to his face. This all comes down to faith. Once, the world rested their fate on Naruto's shoulders. Everyone believed in him. And now it was time to do the same thing for one of his comrades. He needs to have faith. Glancing at Sakura, it was natural that he will worry.

Sakura had always relied on him, more than she ever did with Sasuke. She screamed his name when she thought all hope was lost in Konoha when Pain attacked. She stood back to let him fight for countless times in missions, knowing with full faith that he can succeed. She had campaigned for him during the war, encouraging people to believe that he was their hope. And she wasn't angry at all when he showed himself at the front lines even when most people would have preferred him to stay hidden. She knew that his fighting would help their side in the war. She had relied on him. She depended on him.

When he woke up from his unconsciousness earlier, he saw Sakura and his immediate thought was, she looked different. He even had to blink a couple of times to make sure that he was seeing her. Maybe it was her figure which was obviously better. She was leaner and she looks stronger. She was curvier with her tight outfit. Her hair was done in a neat braid, when before, she would just have it cut short, not to be bothered with.

Then he pounced on her, weeping with relief as he finally had her in his arms. For years, he and their other friends from Rookie 9 had worked as hard as they can to find her. He had combed every country, every possible witness, and every corner of the shinobi world just to find a trace of her. He knew that Sasuke was more worried than he lets on, and he knew that Sasuke must be doing something on his own too to search for her. Tsunade herself has not given up too. They would still do missions for Konoha, of course. That would always be priority. But when time allows them, they would continue searching. Naruto blames himself for letting her go. It burns him to know that he might have been the last person to see her in Konoha. And he cursed himself for so long, knowing that he had the power to make her stay, and he didn't. He wanted her to have a chance to find herself, to find her true strength. But if it means dying, then Naruto would have never let her go. He was so precious to her. He was infatuated before with her so she was always trying to impress her. But she was just family now. A real sister he had always looked on to.

As he hugged her tight, he knew that it was Sakura all right. She had complained with him strangling her, just as she always does before. But she didn't really push him away, just as she won't before. Sure, she would playfully pretend to be angry with his touchiness. But she would never purposely push him in anger. And she didn't, even if she looked uncomfortable at best.

When they stood to fight with their summons, Naruto realized that it wasn't Sakura's form, figure, or appearance that had made her seem so different. It was the strength emanating from her. Sure, she was weirdly confused at first as she stared at him and Sasuke summoning Gamakichi and Aoda. But once she recovered, she had joined the fight blazing. It was surprising to see so many new things from her. She had done water, wind, and fire techniques in a matter of mere minutes. Then proceeded to regenerating his arm. Looking at her now, she doesn't even look tired at all. But that wasn't the strength he means. It's her confidence. It's like she's used to being in the lead. Or at least she's used to being in the front lines. She had fearlessly attacked and proceeded to taking control of all 4 of the others, him, Sasuke, Calvin, and Allison, the moment she got a plan lain out in her head. What's more, her new friends seemed to be used to following her. _Sakura-chan must have finally found her true strength._ Naruto thought with pride. Of course, she was part of team 7. He wouldn't expect less.

He nodded to himself as he finally surrendered himself to having faith with his long lost teammate.

Sasuke sensed Naruto's worry. But as he glanced at Naruto again, Naruto looked like he worked out his worries and was charging in full force now.

Corpo Seco was flailing another arm of black smoke.

 _Okay this is it._ Sasuke pulled out his katana and channeled his chidori through it. The katana radiated and chirped with electricity, cackling loudly. Sasuke thought that it was flashy enough to get Corpo Seco to attack it. And surely enough, Corpo Seco turned to his blade with a delighted grin. Sakura immediately positioned herself behind him, knowing his plan. Corpo Seco directed the black smoke towards his blade. Sasuke pretended to swing his sword to hit the smoke. At the last moment, he pulled it away and jumped the other way. The smoke landed hard on Sakura who was behind him. Sakura fell on her knees at the impact. It looks like the smoke isn't just gas.

"SAKURA!" Naruto shouted after her. Sakura waved him away. "No. Go on. Please, trust me." Naruto frowned. They both knew she can't be argued with. So Naruto surged forward in anger.

"Naruto." Sasuke warned him, knowing that Naruto might be so angry that he would really attack Corpo Seco despite their plan. Naruto ignored him.

His eyes have yellow, toad-like irises with orange pigmentation. He already activated Sage mode when Sasuke was attacking earlier. He took a deep breath. _Okay, I need something flashy too._ He performed hand signs that let him conjure two clones on either side of him. He opened both of his palms to them and they both started weaving a Rasengan on each hand.

Corpo Seco's eyes widened at him and he directed 2 tails of black smoke towards him, aiming to touch the 2 rasengans on his hands. Sakura pushed herself to her feet and immediately leaped behind him.

 _Here goes._ "RasenRasengan!" He shouted, pretending to smack the spinning balls of chakra to the smoke. Then at the last second, he flipped his body and landed a distance away. The smoke then landed on Sakura. One smoke arm knocked her sideways, and the other arm came from below, knocking her high in the air. Sakura was thrown off her feet and landed hard on the ground with a sickening crunch.

Sasuke and Naruto immediately released their techniques, the rasengan vanishing from Naruto's hand and Sasuke's sword becoming an ordinary katana again without electricity. They rushed towards Sakura.

"Sakura-" Naruto said as he put an arm around Sakura's waist to pull her up. Sakura slapped his arm away. She got to her feet on her own, pushing her palms against the ground to propel herself up as she trembled, the corner of her lip bleeding.

"Again.'" She whispered to the both of them. Naruto shook his head. "Stop this Sakura. You're hurting."

Sakura laughed, then stopped almost immediately, wincing. "Ow. My ribs hurt when I laugh. Anyway, Naruto, we are meant to hurt. What's the point of being police if we don't expect to be hurt?"

Naruto's brow furrowed. _Police? Oh maybe she meant being shinobi._

Calvin called them from behind. "Rose, hurting is fine. But this is just suicidal. Your plans are always meant to hurt you!"

"Calvin." Sakura's voice was calm, but everyone can hear the warning in it. "Watch over them okay? Now. Do it again." She ordered him and Sasuke.

Sasuke frowned at her. "You can heal your broken ribs Sakura. Heal them first, then we'll continue the attacks."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's the point! Yes I can, but I won't. Otherwise the plan fails. I need to be hurt by him! Remember what I said, Corpo Seco was transformed into a constant source of pain as his punishment for going against his village. And his power as a source of pain is to transform the good will of people into evil. The ritual in that village tells us that you can only disintegrate the source of pain if you willingly feeling them, stripping yourself of any self preservation, accepting the pain with open arms, Then when you do, the last act is to perform an act that will signify acceptance to your source of pain."

Sasuke and Naruto's eyes light up with understanding. "Ooooooohhhh. Why didn't you say so! We thought you were just being crazy as usual." Naruto said, shaking his head at Sakura.

Sasuke glared at her. "See? It wasn't so hard to explain."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. But now let's go and-"

Sasuke held his hand up. "Wait. One more thing, we're already receiving pain. What about the acceptance part? Do we have a plan for that?"

Sakura just grinned at him, showing a bright mischievous smile on her face. "Leave it to me." Then she charged forward.

"Damn it! Wait, Sakura chan!" Naruto called after her, following quickly. Sasuke grunted in frustration but he also ran after them.

 _I need something flashier._ Sasuke thought. He nodded to himself and jumped forward. Sakura, sensing a plan, positioned herself behind him. He made sure Corpo Seco is watching him before he punched his arm in the air, directed towards Corpo Seco. Then suddenly, about 6 snakes worm out of the sleeves of his arm and hissed loudly simultaneously. They opened their mouths in a hiss and displayed their poisonous fangs.

Corpo Seco watched in delight as he directed a black smoke towards it. Sasuke immediately jumped back as it is nearing, but another shadow of a black smoke had creeped its way behind him and it's posed to strike. He didn't have time to dodge it, but suddenly, he was propelled side wards and was out of harm's way. He looked to see if it was Sakura who did it, but she only shook her head and threw her head back, indicating to someone behind her. Looking there, Sasuke saw Calvin with his stick pointed towards him.

 _Oh so they can do something after all._ He thought, amused. They have been completely immobile behind them that he wonders why exactly are they there with the 3 of them. He glanced towards the girl, Allison, who was solely focused on Sakura, her palms lifted up to Sakura's direction, and wondered what she's exactly doing. But he didn't have time to think anymore because the smoke had landed on Sakura's head and the other one that had creeped behind him landed squarely on the middle of her back. So she was propelled forward and down. She crashed to the ground and was dragged forward.

Sasuke paled. He ran towards Sakura and knelt beside her. That had to hurt no matter what she says. But she only sat up and shook her head frantically, as if trying to shake away the pain.

"Sakura-" He started, but she raised a hand weakly. "Again." She said. "We're almost near him."

Sasuke closed his eyes in frustration. "What do we plan to do when we reach him?"

Sakura smiled. She touched his shoulder and used it to stand. He stood with her, holding her hand to help her steady her feet. "Don't worry about me." She said. "This is nothing. I just really need to feel the pain."

Naruto jogged up to them. "Sakura-chan, ready for another one?"

Sakura flipped the loose strands of her hair back. "As I'll ever be. Let's go!"

Naruto smirked at Sasuke. Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He knew Naruto would go and show off again. And as Naruto started to glow brilliant orange, he knew Naruto would do something ultimately flashier.

"Dobe." He muttered, watching Naruto. Well, it would definitely catch the attention of Corpo Seco. But it would also mean that the evil man would try harder to touch Naruto, which means bigger blows to Sakura.

"Let's go Sakura chan!" Naruto said, his eyes twinkling with excitement. He charged towards Corpo Seco. He raised his hand and conjured a big ball of spinning chakra, the Rasengan, and around it are 3 regular sized rasengans going around the big one, as if moons to a planet.

"Wakusei Rasengan!" Naruto yelled, feigning with attack. Corpo Seco's mouth dropped open, impressed. His eyes glinted evilly as he watched Naruto's technique with hunger. But then his eyes narrowed as he watched Naruto, then Sakura who was running alongside him. His mouth set in a firm line.

"Wow, just how many things can you do with that ball of chakra?" Sakura said, eyeing his Rasengan with wonder.

Naruto laughed. "Like you don't know."

Sakura looked confused. "Uhhh I don't."

"Haha you're such a joker Sakura-chan." Naruto winked at her.

Sakura frowned, but decided not to push it. They needed to concentrate after all.

"Alright. Do your best." She said, flinching as the pain on her back got to her again. Suddenly, Sasuke was behind her. He didn't say anything, he just looked straight ahead. But Sakura knew that he went there to catch her just in case. She grimaced. Chivalry never sits well with her. She had worked so hard so that she'll never be a burden to anyone. Until now, she doesn't know exactly why being a burden is such a sour thing for her. But she just knew that she couldn't let it happen. Sakura then gave Sasuke a hard look. Sasuke ignored her, continuing to run behind her. Sakura ran faster. Sasuke easily caught up. They glared at each other.

"Go away." She hissed.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sasuke said nonchalantly.

"Ahuh. So go."

"…"

"Don't stand behind me."

"…"

"DON'T IGNORE ME!"

"Sakura chan, focus." Naruto called her, a playful smile on his lips as he watched his teammates. But he forced himself to look serious. "He's coming."

Sakura immediately turned to Naruto who's infront of her, blushing at her final words to Sasuke. She just tried to tell him to notice her, in simpler terms. But she was pissed that he's not listening. Sasuke was trying hard not to smirk behind her. He remembered that she used to say those words all the time, only in a more whiny and girly voice. Hearing her say it again was amusing.

Sakura fixed her gaze to Corpo Seco. They were almost by him. Just one more hit.

She saw him narrow his eyes at her and Naruto. He's probably sensing her plan now. But the truth is, he never encountered anyone who would dare deliberately receive his black smoke. It was such foul luck that Sakura can easily dispel his evil substance. She's the only who can. And he reluctantly recognized that it's because she's one of the lost bloodlines. So he eyed her, still not realizing their plan, but knowing they're up to something.

Looking at Naruto's planetary Rasengan, she knew just how hungry Corpo Seco is to turn such a powerful attack evil.

He licked his lips then raised his arm as about ten arms of black smoke rushed forward towards Naruto.

But Naruto was in his Nine Tails chakra mode so he was fast. He grinned down at Corpo Seco. He flashed from his original position to another place, 10 meters away, effectively avoiding the first arm of smoke, which directly hit Sakura in the face. Sakura gasped. Sasuke opened his arms to catch her. But her head only spun for a few seconds, then she kept running.

Corpo Seco cursed then attack Naruto a second time to the new place he is in. Sakura gathered chakra around her body and out into the air around her then she flickered from where she was to the place behind Naruto. Sasuke blink in surprise. Sakura disappeared infront of him. He quickly looked around and spotted her behind Naruto.

 _What…_ He shook his head and followed her quickly. Another arm went straight towards Naruto. Naruto disappeared from where he is again, so the arm hit Sakura across her chest.

"Umpfh.." She said in a concealed yelp. She staggered a few steps back when her back hit a solid wall. She turned to see that it was Sasuke, who immediately grabbed her arms and helped her stand upright. She immediately shrugged off his hands and went her way towards where Naruto is. Sasuke followed her anyway.

Corpo Seco was starting to get frustrated. He aimed 4 arms to Naruto's new location. But Naruto disappeared once again. Sakura was hit all over as the 4 arms aimlessly landed their attacks on her. Sakura doubled over in pain.

"Owww. God this is harder than I thought…." She said before she started coughing. Blood splattered from her mouth. Sasuke was immediately beside her. He placed a hand on her back.

"Is this really necessary?" He muttered as he watched Sakura trembling.

Sakura nodded. "I need to fail pain. Don't worry, I've done this countless times whenever I visit their village. Although it was not as dramatic as this."

Sasuke frowned in disapproval but he didn't say anything. Sakura stood up by herself and she looked around to spot Naruto.

"Ahhh Rose. Risking yourself again to save friends? So noble yet so stupid. But I guess that's what you've always been." Corpo Seco said, throwing her a pitying gaze. Sakura almost smiled with relief. If he says it like that, then it means he hasn't figured out their plan yet. The pain wasn't meaningless.

Corpo Seco looked at Naruto again. He was pissed that the boy was able to move so fast and dodge everything. He really wanted that immense power. Of course, Rose herself is very powerful. But she doesn't normally display her strength when she doesn't have to. This guy, on the other hand seems confident with his skills and would always display it for a show.

It was people like Naruto that fall prey to the trap that is him. He had to admit though that Naruto was pretty capable as he was moving so fast, almost as fast as her when she wasn't being dumb as she is doing now. He couldn't understand how Rose was being struck hit after hit by his smoke arms. Okay, given that she's not really affected by the evil substance, but those hits weren't pretty. She must be at least nauseous now. It was impossible to hit her before, she moves so fast and she was shrewd with every move she makes, that she immediately comes up with a counter attack after studying his movements for a few seconds. Corpo Seco sighed. Well, he's not going to worry about this. Her sudden weakness is his blessing.

He studied Naruto's gloating face. He wouldn't hit him easily. He decided to change his attack patterns and widen them. He spread his smoke arms around, each arm pointing at a different direction.

He threw one arm towards Naruto.

Naruto saw this coming and as expected he disappeared from the spot and appeared on another spot, but Corpo Seco has one arm pointed towards that new spot. So as soon as Naruto appeared on that new spot, the arm pointing towards it launched towards him. Naruto was shocked as he watched the black arm going fast in his direction. He almost didn't have time to dodge. He disappeared again and appeared on another spot. But there was another arm going in that direction. He moved away from it fast. But another one was about to meet him again. This one was too close, he didn't even have time to breath. He only had time to curse before the arm could hit him. But before it did, he was immediately pushed by some unknown force to a great distance, away from corpo seco.

Naruto fell to the ground, the yellow glow from him disappearing along with his planetary Rasengan. He was gasping for air as he knelt up, on all fours, breathing hard. He looked up to find his savior, and found Calvin at the back, his stick pointing towards him.

"Hey!" He called weakly. "Thanks man."

Calvin only grinned at him and showed him a thumbs up.

Corpo Seco glared daggers at Calvin, finally noticing the two hiding at the back. He almost had Naruto if that boy with the stick didn't interfere. It was the same with that snake guy. He could have gotten both of them already. He directed all his shadow arms towards Calvin.

But Calvin flipped his wand and from its tip, there was white smoke. It covered him and Allison. As soon as the black smoke met the white smoke, the black smoke started to move in slow motion. The black smoke even almost reached Calvin and Allison slowly. But Calvin picked up Allison who was still focusing on Sakura and moved her away to another place.

Corpo Seco cursed, his gaze following the two.

On the other hand, Sakura met Corpo Seco's flailing arms blow after blow. Whenever it missed Naruto, she will immediately receive it. It was weird for Sasuke to watch because Naruto was extremely fast, and whenever he disappeared, Sakura was immediately right behind him. Even at the last arm, where Naruto even needed Calvin's help to get away, Sakura was still able to appear instantly there and get hit by the arm. As Sasuke made it a duty upon himself to be right behind Sakura to aid her, he found it surprising that she moves so fast, almost too difficult to catch up to, that he even had to use his own speed to catch up. He was able to catch up of course, but he was breathless by the end. Sakura might be wincing in pain, but she didn't look exhausted at all. He pulled her to her feet again.

Sasuke looked at her and quickly scanned her body if anything was amiss. She was bruised all over, there was blood trickling down her neck. But she looked ready to go on.

She clasped his shoulder to steady herself. "I'm okay." She muttered at him. "Okay you can go away now. I mean it. If you get hit on the last minute, then it'd be trouble."

Then suddenly, snakes peeked out of his pants. They circled his legs and tightened around him, then they dove headfirst on the ground, securing him in place.

 _What the…How did she…_ Sasuke gaped at her. These were his snakes. How did she control them?

"Don't follow." She said, standing so close to him to whisper. She smelled like ground dust and dirt. Maybe because she has rolled over them a lot since earlier after getting hit each time. But there was still the scent of strawberries tickling his nose as he leaned in closer to her. Then she went away and the strawberry scent was gone.

"Sakura!" He called, as he tried to leap after her. But the snakes were holding him firmly. He cursed.

Corpo Seco moved to attack Calvin and Allison's new location. But he missed again as a figure deliberately placed itself infront of him to block the attack. All 10 arms landed on Sakura's stomach. She coughed up blood and fell to her knees.

"Rose, really. Must you be such a martyr?" Corpo Seco said, raising his eyes to the heavens in mock exasperation. "Is it a pleasant sensation to you? To be hit by my power?"

Sakura whimpered. "It hurts." She admitted quietly, tears threatening to fall as she curved her body to clutch her stomach.

Corpo Seco tutted as he knelt beside her. "Oh Rose, if you really want it that bad, then all you had to do was ask." He pulled her braids. Her hair became undone and it flowed in soft waves all the way to her thighs. Corpo Seco grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled hard, forcing her head to snap up to look at him. "Boss will be happy if I finish you early." He summoned all his smoke arms and pointed them to her.

She grinned at him, showing her teeth which was also coated with blood. She grabbed his face. And to everyone's surprise and shock, she pulled his head down and kissed him.

"SAKURA CHAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" Naruto screamed. He immediately got to his feet and started to run towards them when a solid brick wall surrounded him.

 _What…Calvin._ Naruto conjured a rasengan in hand and smashed it on the wall. But the wall didn't budge.

"It's no use." Calvin called out to him. "It will be indestructible for exactly 3 minutes."

"WELL YOU BETTER ENJOY THE LAST 3 MINUTES OF YOUR LIFE!" Naruto growled at him, punching the wall furiously.

Sasuke who froze at the sight of Sakura kissing the villain had immediately come into action when he recovered from the initial shock. He brought out his katana and cut off the snakes by his feet and jumped quickly towards Sakura, his eyes blazing with fury. His eyes turned blood red.

Calvin also trapped him in an indestructible wall before he can reach Sakura.

He wordlessly punched the wall in frustration.

For some reason, Calvin was more scared of Sasuke, even though he hadn't screamed at him like Naruto did. There was black aura emanating from him. His anger is real. He punched the wall with such vehemence that Calvin could feel the threat just with its force.

Calvin looked at Allison warily. Allison shrugged, still focusing on Sakura.

"Well, we have our answers now. They had to be friends with Rose if they react to her this way so intensely." Calvin whispered shakily. Allison nodded. "Yeah. Especially that brooding one. Think he's Rose's boyfriend from the past? He couldn't leave her alone. He practically followed her everywhere!"

Calvin lifted his shoulders. "I don't know." Then he cleared his throat. "Guys, listen to me!" He said in a loud voice. The men only growled at him. "Trust Rose okay? Remember the final phase is acceptance. Perhaps….kissing him is what she means. She wouldn't want you to interfere. Not after all that pain she has to go through."

That silenced them.

Naruto stomped his foot in annoyance. "What kind of a stupid plan is that?!"

Calvin sighed wearily. "A plan that only Rose manages to pull off."

Sasuke punched the wall again. "Let me out. I don't approve of this plan at all."

"Maybe that's why Rose didn't tell you." Calvin said matter-of-factly.

Then all too soon, the wall melted off. The 2 men started advancing towards him in anger.

Calvin raised his hands up in surrender. "Guys." He said, backing away. "I don't think you should be concentrating this anger towards me. Corpo Seco is still alive?"

That halted them in their tracks. Calvin breathed a sigh of relief. Man, Rose has protective men around her.

"ARGH!" A loud scream startled all of them. As one, their heads turn quickly to the source of sound. Sakura still has her lips clamped on Corpo Seco's. But he was disintegrating around her. All his arms of smoke were melting in a disgusting black fluid that looks like mud. The same thing was happening to his legs and his body. He was clutching her hair and it looked like he's desperately trying to pull her off. The roots of Sakura's hair looks like it will be pulled off any second now from the strain.

Corpo Seco was shaking with anger. He finally understood what Rose was doing. She was performing his village's ritual of disintegrating the source of pain. It was virtually impossible to perform that ritual on him since anyone who opts to receive his lashes will automatically become evil. It slipped his mind that Rose doesn't absorb his evil substance at all. Now she had completed the ritual, visualizing a form of acceptance through a kiss. And now he is going to be disintegrated from the face of the earth. But not if he can help it. He used what's left of his power to make all of his shadow arms attack Rose on her lower back. The arms had lounged towards her and it easily went all the way to create a gaping hole on her stomach. Sakura gasped, finally letting go of Corpo Seco's lips.

But alas, it was still too late for Corpo Seco. The ritual was done. He was done.

He chuckled humorlessly. "F*ck you." He told Sakura with passion.

She grabbed him by the collar. She was already bleeding so much from her wound and yet she was still determined to get to him. Corpo Seco shook his head in amusement.

"Tell me why you are here." She said, her voice steady despite of everything.

He laughed without humor. "You are one incredible opponent. As a lost bloodline, I expect no less. But I am glad to die at the hands of the strongest opponent I ever had." He sighed, watching his essence disappear. "As a reward, I'll tell you. But only as brief as I can or boss will hunt me even in hell."

He took a deep breath. "I told you, all I want is for you to go home and mind your own business. That is actually my mission. To take you home so you can mind your own business."

Sakura blinked at him. "But I am not home."

Corpo Seco gave her an amused glanced. "Are you not? As I told you earlier, my mission is already finished."

Then finally, with his last word fading, Corpo Seco vanished.

Immediately, Sakura fell on her front, unconscious from all her wounds.

"SAKURA!" A deafening voice screamed. The others had finally arrived. Everyone from Rookie 9 was there. They probably received the news about Sakura's return from the first ones who saw her. There was Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Hinata, Kiba with Akamaru, Shino, Lee, Tenten,

Naruto scowled at all of them. "Great timing you guys. The enemy has just been defeated."

Sasuke ignored all of them and immediately went to Sakura.

She was losing blood too fast because of the hole on her stomach.

Ino pushed him out of the way and quickly activated her green chakra.

"Is it really her? Sakura?" Kiba called, looking down at the fallen girl with pink hair.

"What's going on? She's dying!" Shikamaru exclaimed, shutting up the rest of Rookie 9 who was initially just excited to see her. "Naruto." He called in a frantic voice, quietly demanding an explanation.

"It's-It's….she…." Naruto started heaving dry sobs. He was shaking as he finally allowed himself to look at Sakura, covered in a pool of her own blood.

"She…" His voice ended in a high pitch. Shikamaru immediately sat next to him and patted his shoulder. "Okay, don't explain. We'll wait until Sakura is okay." He said reassuringly.

Everyone else was gaping at the situation.

"People, please, move away. She needs space to breath…" Ino's hand was shaking, and a few sobs escape her lips. But she pushed herself to focus. _No. JUST NO SAKURA. I'm not going to lose you! Not when we finally have you back! NO! FOREHEAD GIRL. WAKE THE F*CK UP!_

Sasuke didn't move away, despite Ino's glares. He sat there, unmoving, as he watched Sakura laying peacefully there, as if she was just sleeping. As if she wasn't covered in her own blood. As if she didn't have a hole on her stomach. As if she wasn't so heavily bruised all over. He was numb all over. He was lost, lost in a dark abyss. He couldn't have lost her. Not now. He tried so hard to save her this time. And yet he still failed. He thought he was strong enough. But all this time, he was still weak….if he could save the world but not save her. Unknown to him, even he started shaking,

Calvin turned to Allison. "Uhmmmm Allison. Are you about to be done? Because all those people there are being traumatized thinking that Rose would die."

Allison shushed him. Her eyes are closed as she tried hard to concentrate. "Don't distract me Cal or she really will die."

"Ino, how is she?" Chouji hesitantly asked. It has been a few minutes since Ino started healing her. Ino shook her head, tears starting to form from her eyes.

"SHUT UP! I need to concentrate!" Ino screamed her green glow wavering.

Hinata piped up. "B-But Ino chan, w-we need to know if we can do anything to help."

Ino looked up angrily. But all she saw was concerned faces, genuinely wishing for Sakura's recovery. She couldn't help it, she started to cry. She put her hands up to her face and sobbed hard.

"INO! Why did you stop healing her!" Shikamaru yelled. "She's losing blood and-"

Ino shook her head. "Her heart stopped beating a while back. There are too many damages everywhere. She-She's j-just a-a c-corpse n-now w-waiting f-for h-her l-last m-m-moments…"

Silence. Nobody moved or spoke a word. The wind can be heard over Ino's sobbing.

"I'm sorry." Ino said, her voice, cracking. "She's gone."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 **A/N: Hello people! I'm still trying to play things out in my mind so it's taking a while to update. I play it in my head when I walk to school**

 **Anyway, to answer reviews! I only have one review to answer today. It commented on the technical errors of my writing in the story. And truthfully enough, when I checked again, the reviewer was right! To be honest, I used to not really mind so much on the technicalities when I'm writing this specific story because this is just supposed to be for fun. But the reviewer was right, when I was reading again, and I was being really mindful, I noticed everything and it was annoying to have to read through. So thank you, I will try to edit everything soon! See? Reviews help guys! Please tell me anything that you think should be improved!**

 **But as of now, I am focusing on the development of the story because…well it's kinda hard to develop a story like this haha. I thought it was gonna be simple but I have to keep everything connected and bigger and relevant and not awkward and…gahhhh. It's difficult. I salute all fanfiction writers out there. To keep up with the essence of the main story and try to create your own from it is a very challenging thing to do.**

 **Okay so, let's do this guys! Chapter 8!**

 _Previously_

 _"INO! Why did you stop healing her!" Shikamaru yelled. "She's losing blood and-"_

 _Ino shook her head. "Her heart stopped beating a while back. There are too many damages everywhere. She-She's j-just a-a c-corpse n-now w-waiting f-for h-her l-last m-m-moments…"_

 _Silence. Nobody moved or spoke a word. The wind can be heard over Ino's sobbing._

 _"I'm sorry." Ino said, her voice, cracking. "She's gone."_

NOW

Silence.

There is no sound, except for the soft sobbing of a blonde weeping girl. The birds have stopped chirping. And the wind is absolutely still. Her sobs seem to be echoing because noone and nothing else dares to make a sound.

Because perhaps if noone breaks the silence, then maybe, just maybe, all of this would be nothing but a dream. Then when they wake up, the pink haired girl who is one of the most compassionate and one of the sweetest girl anyone cancould know of would wake up from her deep slumber, for it is a sleep that will never end.

And yet, she lies down on the soft grass, bathed onin her own blood, as if she is just sleeping. But in reality, everything they know that she is, has already left this bodylifeless body. Today, it is reduced to nothing but a vessel of the past, the vessel that contained a lovely girl who will always be remembered.

"Mmmm. Hi excuse me? Please let us through?" A soft, nervous voice breaks the silence. The voice came from a man with golden hair and wide chocolate eyes. He looks around warily, looking at the people surrounding the immobile girl. There are about 12 people around her. None of them seem to hear him.

"Excuse me?" He says, trying to keep his voice light. He senses that everyone is in shock, and so they are deadly silent. It was uncomfortable to have to be the one who breaks the silence under such intense atmosphere.

A girl with curly black hair steps next to him and nudges his arm. "Oh just blast them off Calvin. I can't hold on much longer. I need to reach Rose."

Calvin bites his lower lip. "But Allison, they look so sad. I can't do that. They'll go on a rampage."

Allison turns to him with outrage in her eyes. Her face is red and she looks like she's struggling with something as her face contorts. "DO IT NOW OR ROSE DIES."

Calvin gasps in horror, remembering exactly how crucial it is that Allison reaches Rose in time. Without another thought, he pulls out his wand and pointed it at the backs of everyone surrounding Rose.

He mutters a curse. Then suddenly, everyone flies about 20 meters away from her. Allison and Calvin run as fast as they can towards Sakura's limp body.

With their suddenly flying about, everyone has finally broken free from their frozen silence. But fury instantly replaced it.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Naruto screams, his fists shaking as he stands up.

Allison ignores all of them and kneels beside Sakura. She pulls out a few leaves and she places it above Sakura's gaping hole on her stomach.

"DON'T TOUCH HER!" Naruto yells as he charges towards them. Every one of the 12 people starts charging as well.

"Hey!" Kiba says, trying to get Allison's attention.

"Stop what you're doing!" Shikamaru tries to tell her too.

"Damn it. They're mutilating her body!" Tenten says, horrified.

Lee gasps, his face becoming red in anger. "Stay away from my beloved! Let her have her dignity to die in peace! Let her die in her beautiful youth!"

They run towards the two who had attached themselves to Sakura's side. Calvin steps back in fear. "Er-Allison…"

"Hush. Shut up. I'm trying to concentrate." Allison waves him away. Calvin gulps as he turns towards the angry people. He sighs. "Hurry Allison. I don't want to be the dead one here." Then he raises his wand, casting a circle of mist around them.

As the 12 get in contact with the mist, they bump into a solid barrier. The mist that Calvin surrounded himself and Allison with is actually solid.

Sasuke angrily punches the solid mist wordlessly. But everyone can feel his red fury over it when it didn't even crack.

Calvin watches Sasuke nervously. "10 minutes Allison"

Allison nods. "That's enough time."

"She trusted in you two! How can you do this?!" Naruto says in boiling anger, his eyes narrowing as he watches Calvin.

Calvin shakes his head. "No. You got this wrong. We're trying to save Rose. But we need you to steer clear. Allison needs to concentrate."

Sasuke punches the mist again. Calvin flinches as if he was the one actually hit.

"She's dead." Sasuke says, so quietly as if it is a whisper. But every one hears it.

Allison is the one who answers this time. "No. She's not. What do you think I was doing earlier, just sitting around and staring at Rose?"

"Yes." Sasuke says without hesitation.

Allison rolls her eyes. "Ugh. You guys are naïve. If Rose is so important to you, then you should realize that she trusts us. And if she does, then you should realize that there's a reason why."

Sasuke's fists clench hard, looking like it would bleed. "She tends to trust the wrong people."

Allison throws a glance at Sasuke. His eyes are full of regret and despair. Allison wonders if Sasuke is referring to himself when he said that Rose trusted the wrong people before.

"Well." She says with her head held high. "She didn't make the wrong decision with us."

Shikamaru sighs exasperatedly. "Okay stop bantering guys. They surrounded themselves with indestructible mist for 10 minutes, if I am correct since the man said that his companion only has 10 minutes to work on Sakura. So we can't do anything about it but wait it out. We can attack after their shroud of protection vanishes."

Calvin scowls. "But we just said-"

Shikamaru raises a finger to stop him. "If you want us to believe you that you're only saving Sakura, then tell us in detail exactly what you're doing and why it can be qualified as saving her."

Allison nods. "Fair enough. Well Rose has always been-"

"Why do you keep calling Sakura, Rose?" Ino says, her head tilted in curiosity.

Calvin raises a brow. "Well why do you call her Sakura?"

"That doesn't even make sense! Because her name is Sakura!" Ino says, placing her hands on her hips.

Calvin shakes his head. "No. Her name is Rose."

Shikamaru groans and places a hand on Ino's shoulder. "Stop it guys. They're already telling us what they're doing. Listen up." Ino crosses her arms and looks away stubbornly. Shikamaru sighs. But he nods at Allison to continue.

Allison gives them a small smile. "Okay. As I was saying, Rose has always been suicidal. I mean, she would always push her limits and end up always almost dying. She likes attacking head on and getting the most battle scars in a fight."

Everyone stares at her incredulously.

Sai blinks at her, confused. "Sakura's not like that at all. She would always stand back and wait for a smarter strategy she can use along with her team."

Calvin grins. "Oh she's smart alright. She might be crazy and totally head on. But she will always have a genius strategy up her sleeves. That's why I said you guys can trust her." He says, looking at Naruto and Sasuke.

Sasuke shakes his head, annoyed now. He already knows that Sakura seem to have developed a strong initiative and leadership skills. What he needs to know now is what those strangers are doing with her. "Get on with it." He says in a growl.

Allison nods. "Anyway, because of that, President worried about her. Even when she was with James and Calvin….er…her team back at home, or the original one at least, she was always so reckless. She doesn't care about her life and well-being at all. The President bugged her and bugged her about it, until finally, she caved in and said that she would device a technique that would protect her and ensure that she will be fine. She developed the twin cloak technique. It is a technique that would shield her heart and her brain. But she can't do it on her own. Someone must do it from behind, totally immobile and focused on performing the technique. But that's not all. She also improved the medical skill that she already had. She greatened the healing capacity so that it can extend to regeneration. As long as you know enough about the organs and processes inside the body, you can perform that regeneration. The only 2 things she cannot regenerate are the heart and the brain. That's why it must be protected at all costs especially when she knows she's about to do something stupidly deadly again." She sighs, looking down at Sakura. "Of course, that's all the compromise we can get from her. In the end, it will still harm her but at least we'll have assurance that she won't die easy. Originally, Calvin was the one who would do this. But responsibilities change when…" She catches the look on Calvin's eyes, suddenly saddened at the mention of his original team before. Allison shuts her mouth and continued working on Sakura.

Ino shakes her head incredulously. "That's impossible! You can't just regenerate! Heck she couldn't even do it for her own teammates when they lost their arms!"

Calvin shrugs. "Maybe we're talking about 2 different girls."

Ino gapes at him. Calvin only smiles sweetly and winks, his dimples showing itself as he smiled. Ino blushes.

Sai clears his throat. "Okay, assuming that you're telling the truth, why is her heart stopped?"

"Because she's losing too much blood. I had it stopped for a while, only temporarily or she will have a heart failure." Allison sighs. "Calvin, let the blond girl come in. I need her help."

Ino jumps up from the sudden request. Calvin glances down at Allison but he waves his wand and nods at Ino. "You can come in now."

Ino looks at him suspiciously. She extends her arms and starts feeling out the mist, as if thinking that it is still solid and that he's just pranking her.

Calvin rolls his eyes. "Oh for God's sake!" He waves his wand again, and this time, Ino zooms all the way in to their side.

Ino gasps in shock.

"Ino!" Shimakaru, Chouji, and Sai scream after her. Ino raises her hand quickly. "Don't worry guys! I'm fine! I was just surprised." Then she throws a glare at Calvin, who only beams at her, making her blush again.

She kneels beside Allison and watches what she's doing with fascination. "Oh my god. You're telling the truth. You're actually regenerating all the damaged organs."

Allison smiles proudly. "Rose taught me well."

Ino narrows her eyes at the leaves. "But I don't understand. You're not using chakra at all."

Allison regards her. "Well, I'm not shinobi so I don't use chakra."

Ino blinks at her. "Huh? That's…..wait, but you can't not be… I mean..uhmm…"

Allison smiles kindly. "I guess it's really a world of shinobi here eh? I'm originally from the Mapushe village but my family moved to the Salve city. The Mapushe people performs ceremonies for the warding off of evil, for rain, for the cure of diseases, and has an extensive knowledge of Chilean medicinal herbs, gained during arduous apprenticeship. I myself trained under the Mapushe tribe leader for 6 years as a teenager. Chileans of all origins and classes make use of the many traditional herbs known to the Mapuche. So basically, people like me use the healing and protective energy from special leaves that only our tribe knows how to grow. Also, those leaves can only grow on our land. What's more is that it's only people of the Mapushe bloodline has the connection towards the power of the leaves. So only we can use it. In essence, we're the shields and healers of people. We prioritize the safety and wellness of our teams." She nods, deep in thought. "Rose studied the qualities of the leaves and found a way to convert her regeneration technique into something I can do. She's very shrewd."

Ino frowns, deep in thought. "I've never heard of a Mapushe village, or a Salve city. From what country are you?"

Allison sighs. "It's hard to explain. Rose will tell you okay?"

Calvin laughs. He knows Allison is throwing the burden of explaining everything to Rose, so that she would face all the uncomfortable things that everyone will ask. After all, how can anyone possibly explain to these people who obviously love Rose that Rose doesn't give 2 peanuts about them because she doesn't know any of them? More than that, how can anyone explain to people who thought that this small huddle of countries they have is already the whole world, that there is a bigger world out there that they never know of? As a matter of fact, the people of the West were quite shaken upon discovering the existence of the North. But the people there has always been welcome to the variety of creatures. What will happen to these shinobi who thought that it's only ever them in the world?

Calvin looks up at the skies. _Oh James, if you were here, you would just quickly tell them that Rose doesn't give a shit about them. Or that they should grow up and look at the world for themselves._

"Anyway." Allison says too brightly. "I saw you trying to heal Rose earlier. You have chakra too. So perhaps you know how to heal with them yes?"

Ino nods slowly. "Mmmm yes?"

"Okay. Then stop the bleeding please." Allison tells her. "While I'm closing up her wounds, stop the bleeding. And when you can, try to generate blood so that it fills her up again, to replace what she lost."

Ino's head shoots up to gape at her. "What?! I can't do that! Generate blood? There are limits to a medical nin! That's not possible!"

Allison stares at her, confused. "But you have the same abilities as Rose. You also have chakra. Surely you would know how? I mean the regeneration, she invented, fine. So maybe she's the only one before who can do it among the shinobi. But you can do what she does, right?"

Calvin chuckles. "Oh Al. We keep forgetting that you know so little about us. You should ask us questions sometimes. We will always answer."

Allison huffs indignantly. "I respect your privacy and Rose's. I would do no such thing. It is none of my business."

Calvin smiles at her kindly. "But you're more than just our teammate Al. You are our friend. You can ask us anything."

Allison blushes. She looks down, embarrassed. She never thought that Calvin and Rose will look at her that way. Her actions then seem to push them away at most. She feels guilty for always trying to be too professional. Calvin and Rose are just so popular and strong that she thought she can't treat them with anything else but professional. Otherwise they might think she's a suck up.

Allison shyly looks up at Calvin. "Okay. So, why can't she do what Rose does even when they both have chakra?"

"Well, the shinobi usually can only operate on what element they are tied in. Like some are fire, some water, etc." Calvin says. "If you work hard, you can have two at most. Special cases can get 3."

Allison's mouth falls open. "But that can't be. Rose-"

Calvin nods at her. "Yes. Rose is different. She's a lost bloodline."

"WHAT?!" Allison gasps. "All this time and you guys didn't tell me! That's huge! Rose is…..damn it. No wonder President is so worried about her."

Calvin shoots her a pointed look. "The President doesn't see Rose as just a stupid lost bloodline. He was genuinely worried about her as a person he cares about. Rose being a lost bloodline shouldn't matter. Not even to you."

Allison flushes brighter. "I-I didn't mean..No. Sorry." Allison looks down in shame. But honestly, she is really shocked about this. No wonder Rose is so powerful. She's a freaking lost bloodline. That means she's one of the most…if not the most powerful shinobi. Or her bloodline is.

Calvin sighs. "She doesn't broadcast it precisely because of this. She's not any different. She's still the same silly old Rose."

Allison nods, her head still down and deep in thought as she continues working on Rose.

"So is anyone gonna explain what you mean when you said that Sakura, or Rose to you for some weird reason, is a lost bloodline?" Shikamaru says impatiently, moving his gaze from Allison to Calvin.

Calvin visibly gulps. "Er….I'll let Rose..uhmm…Sakura explain that later."

Allison laughs and smirks at Calvin. Calvin glares at her.

"Okay." Allison tells Ino. "If you can't generate blood then heal the organs I regenerated completely then I'll handle the blood. Rose at least taught me how to do this."

Ino nods with determination. She places her hands over Sakura and it started to glow green, just as Sakura's when she uses her medical techniques.

Calvin turns to everyone. "Guys, if I remove the shield, are you still gonna attack me? I need to help Allison."

Everyone shakes their head in unison, their eyes glued to Sakura now.

Calvin waves his wand and proceeds to sit by Allison. "I'll close up this stupid hole."

Allison smiles at him, grateful. Everyone steps closer to the three.

"Don't get too close. She needs to breath." Ino says, her forehead building with sweat. Allison nods in agreement.

The three work together efficiently and fast. In a matter of quick minutes, the hole on Sakura's stomach has already closed, and Sakura's cheeks are starting to get color again, as an effect of Allison restoring her blood. Her chest starts moving, a sign of breathing, as Ino successfully heals the organs that were hit.

"It's working!" Ino exclaims, tears in her eyes as she realizes that Sakura is alive, surely and truly this time.

"Of course. It has to work. We've perfected this routine now. She'll almost die every time then we have to do this." Calvin says, pretending to be annoyed. But his voice obviously holds the fondness for the unconscious girl.

Ino looks up to him. "So you guys are her new team?"

"Yeah!" Naruto pipes up from the side. "I wasn't paying attention earlier because I was worried. But yeah, you said something like that. Her original team Calvin and Jonas-"

"James." Calvin immediate corrects. He blushes then looks away, turning his attention back to Sakura.

"Okay. James. So you and James, and now you three?" Naruto continues, watching Calvin with curiosity. It would explain why Sakura is so powerful. Because she then spent her 5 years working and getting herself stronger. Weird though because she could have done the same thing in Konoha. But then she's significantly stronger. Maybe the environment of where she worked is intense.

Calvin bites his lips. "Mmmmm….Rose will answer that, okay? Now stop asking questions."

After that, everyone is silent, letting the 3 healers concentrate on their jobs.

Soon, Ino stands up with happy tears pouring down her face.

"There! She's just sleeping now. But she's definitely back with us!" Ino cries joyously.

Pause. Silence.

And then cheers erupt in the air.

"YES! SAKURA CHAN IS ALIVE!" Naruto screams as he jumps and pumps his fists in the air. "SASUKE TEME! COME OVER HERE AND GIVE ME A HUG! I'M SO HAPPY!" He drags Sasuke towards him and gives him a bear squeeze. Sasuke frowns at Naruto, but his eyes are also twinkling with relief, as he glances at the now sleeping Sakura. Sai is smiling widely as well. He might not show it but his joy is almost the same with the two. Sakura has also been a very good friend to him. Seeing her almost lifeless made his limbs feel numb. He couldn't move at all earlier. But now, tremendous relief that is almost painful blooms on his chest. And he's happy to see her back and finally safe.

The others look on at them with wide grins. For years they have aided Sasuke and Naruto into searching for their long lost teammate. But it's really also because Sakura has been a friend to all of them. When Sasuke left the village and Naruto went to train with Jiraiya, Sakura was assigned to every team whenever her time permitted her. She was assigned as a medic nin for every team of the Rookie 9 whenever they will have a mission and whenever Sakura doesn't have medical studies with Tsunade. Sakura has really been closer to them for the past years. And seeing her finally home after her supposed great adventure, they were all relieved and happy.

Ino wipes her eyes. "Okay, now we can go and give her to the hospital and wait for her to wake up and-"

Allison raises her hand to stop her. "No. We can wake her right now. She'll hate it if she ends up in the hospital again." She turns to Calvin and winks. "You know what to do."

Calvin laughs. "Oh she will hate you for this. But I'm on it."

Calvin knelt beside Sakura again and mounted her. Then slowly, he lowers his head towards her.

"OY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Naruto screams in outrage. Sasuke suddenly appears behind Calvin and poses to strike.

But Calvin is only a mere inch from Sakura's lips when he suddenly jumps away from her. Sasuke's hand is still coming down towards the direction where Calvin was 2 seconds ago. Then in an instant, a soft and warm hand is holding his hand in restraint.

Looking down, Sasuke meets with those beautiful emerald eyes, who is looking at him with a confused expression.

"What are you doing?" Sakura says in a weak voice. She is sitting up and one of her hands is caressing her head, as if from a painful bump. She turns towards where Calvin is. "AND YOU! Why were you trying to kiss me again?! I was unconscious for heaven's sake!"

Calvin laughs. "You always wake up when I try to kiss you."

Sakura scowls at that.

"Sakura." Sasuke breaths her name, squeezing her hand, as if he can't believe that she's finally awake and sitting up. Then he shakes his head, returning to his uncaring expression. "Don't sit up. We'll bring you to the hospital."

Sakura's expression turns sour. "No way! I'm a medic. I can heal myself."

Sasuke frowns at her, narrowing his eyes. "You died back there."

Sakura shrugs. "Part of the plan. Although I didn't quite expect it to be so dramatic. That ass holed out my tummy." She grasps his hand and looks up at him expectantly. "Pull me up?"

Sasuke carefully pulls her hand and places a hand on her waist to help her steady herself. Sakura looks up, feeling uncomfortable of their sudden proximity. "Mmmmm thanks. I think I got it now."

Sasuke looks up at her face, quietly assessing if she really is alright now. He narrows his eyes at her. She beams and gives him a bright smile in assurance. "No. Really. I'm fine."

"SAKURA CHAN! YOU'RE AWAKE!" Naruto screams at the top of his voice. He runs beside the two of them and pulls them together in a group hug.

"Naruto. Get off." Sasuke says in an irritated voice, pushing Naruto's face.

"Aw! Hey careful, I'm still newly healed. Watch it!" Sakura complains, trying to wiggle herself out of the hug.

But Naruto securely got them in a tight hug. He is sobbing again, but a big smile is plastered on his lips.

"I-I'm j-just s-so h-happy th-that w-we're b-back t-together." Naruto says while sobbing. He grins at his two closest friends, and he feels right at home.

Sasuke silently feels the same way. Being with the two makes him feel like he's finally back to the family he came back for. He bites his lower lip in a struggle to suppress the smile that is creeping on his face. He gazes at Sakura. She has a confused expression on her face. But nonetheless, just like before, she opens her mouth to complain. Sasuke has to bow his head to stifle his smile at that.

"Let go! Come on, Naruto. I can't breath!" Sakura complains, struggling away from them again. "You're always crying!" She whines, putting a hand to his face and pushing.

Naruto laughs. "Come on Sakura! Didn't you miss me?"

Sakura rolls her eyes. "I didn't just see you in just a few minutes while I was out. God, you're clingy and sob-y. You could be a girl for all I know."

Everyone laughs at that.

"Oho! So forehead girl is back after all!" Ino says with a big smile on her face, drops of tears still sparkling from her eyes. She pushes Sasuke and Naruto away, and engulfs her in a hug of her own.

"Hey!" Naruto complains.

Sasuke shakes his head in exasperation but watches the moving seen of the bestfriend's reunion with an amused look. Ino and Sakura were bestfriends since forever after all. They became rivals after choosing to fight over him. It has always been such a silly battle for him. He couldn't care less back then who was prettier or what, no matter how hard these 2 girls try to please him. At least Ino seem not interested in him now. And Sakura…

"Ow! Oh come on, stop squishing me you guys. And you, get off pig!" Sakura says, immobile again in someone's arms. Ino chuckles at her and squeezes harder. Sakura winces, but now she has a confused expression across her face. Why did she call the lady hugging her a pig? The lady is not a pig at all. She is slim and sexy and clean. But somehow, the term just slipped away from her lips.

Then Ino lets go and hits her head.

"Hey!" Sakura yells in surprise.

Ino crosses her arms and pouts. "That's for escaping all of us earlier. Do you know how hard we all tried to look for you?! And then when we finally found you, you were dead! Do you know how cruel that is?!"

"What? But why-" Sakura stammers in confusion. But before she can say anything else, everyone else around them started approaching her.

"Welcome back Sakura! You don't know how crazy these two went looking for you." Kiba says, gesturing to Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto blushes and sticks his tongue out to Kiba. Sasuke looks away, feeling embarrassed.

"Why-" Sakura starts again, but she was interrupted by Shino.

"Hi Sakura. Welcome home. You still remember me right?"

Sakura scratches her head and stares at Shino. "Uhmmmm-"

"W-Welcome H-home S-Sakura Ch-chan!" Hinata tells her from behind. Sakura turns to see the girl from the wishing well earlier.

"Oh! It's you-"

"Hey Sakura! Let's go eat barbecue later okay! I'll treat you this time!" Chouji exclaims with a grin.

"That's new, Chouji. But then it's probably because she just came back. In that case, let's play shogi then I'll let you win, Sakura." Shikamaru says in a bored voice.

Sakura stares at the two. "Uhhhh-"

"Hey Sakura! Did you find some new weapons in your adventure? You promised me before you left that you'll keep an eye out!" Tenten excitedly says as she approaches Sakura.

"Mmmm well-"

And then Lee with his green spandex opens his arms wide and runs towards her.

"Oh my precious love! You have finally awaken! The power of youth really is great! Come and let me feel your youth my cherry blossom!" Lee says in a loud, determined voice. He starts running towards her. Sakura gasps and tries to avoid him, but he was quick to wrap his arms around her.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Sakura screams, trying to kick Lee. Everyone laughs. It feels like such a normal day in Konoha.

Calvin and Allison watch them in amusement.

"They still don't know." Allison says in an amused voice.

Calvin giggles. "I bet Rose would explode any second now. All this affection will kill her."

Allison raises her brows. "But Rose has a lot of fans like this."

Calvin shakes his head. "Yeah. But not as intense as this. These people are practically all over her. Count with me Al. Rose is gonna break. 5 4 3…"

Allison rolls her eyes but counts along anyway. "…2…1."

"OKAY ENOUGH! STOP! GO AWAY YOU THICK BROWS. Step away or I disintegrate you!" Sakura screams, finally tired and exhausted from all this. There are so much feelings that she doesn't understand as she was approached by these people. Like she would never had called someone thick brows out of nowhere. But somehow, it just seems natural to call him like that. And she doesn't understand it at all.

She expels chakra throughout her whole body. Then suddenly, everyone is thrown off 10 meters away from her.

"Sakura chan! What are you doing?" Naruto says in surprise, as he gets up from his fall after being thrown off.

"Yeah! Sakura what gives!" Kiba exclaims in annoyance.

Shikamaru frowns and crosses his arms. "Tsk. Bothersome."

"YOU BILLBOARD BROW! Why did you do that?! Sakura you're such a stingy-"

Sakura raises a finger and glares at all of them. "First of all, my name is Rose. Not Sakura."

Everyone stares at her like she lost her mind.

"Secondly," She continues, ignoring their bewilderment. "Can someone please tell me what is going on?! I have very loving fans but this is just bordering insane! Because if you're calling me Sakura, then I'm the one you've all been looking for earlier at the village!"

"I don't understand. Of course we're looking for you. Why-" Ino begins, looking horrified at her statements. None of them can understand what she means. _Rose? Fans? What?_

"Sakura." Tenten says kindly. Upon Sakura's glare, she rolls her eyes and says. "Fine. Rose. You're just confused. Let's just take you to the hospital."

Everyone nods in agreement. Sakura scowls at all of them.

"No. I want answers now!" Sakura screams, stomping her foot.

Each of them throws her questioning looks. They don't quite understand what she wants. They didn't understand what she said. They don't know what she wants to hear.

Naruto scratches his head. "Er-Sakura…we don't-"

"Okay okay. Break it up. The commotion you are causing is too big." A reprimanding voice makes them all turn.

"Kakashi sensei!" Naruto says in glee. "Look Sakura chan is….wait a minute. Why did you arrive just now?! We were dying here earlier!"

Kakashi laughs. "Well I know you can handle it. I have complete faith in you guys!"

Sasuke raises his brows at him. "No. You were just too lazy to come down."

Kakashi turns to him with wide eyes. "That is not true! I was watching from the start."

"Then why didn't you help!" Naruto asks, crossing his arms.

Kakashi shifts and his Icha Icha paradise book falls from his pockets.

"I KNEW IT!" Naruto and Sasuke exclaim.

Kakashi chuckles and raises his hand in surrender. "Okay okay. You got me. But that is not the issue right now."

Naruto rolls his eyes. "Hmp. Purposely suddenly changing the subject." He says under his breath.

Kakashi ignores him. "Sakura. I would say it's nice to see you again. But I think in this situation, it is a little bit off."

Sakura looks up at him curiously.

Shikamaru turns to Kakashi. "What do you mean 6th?"

Kakashi sighs in exasperation. "Honestly I don't know why none of you gets it. But then you were all probably focused on saving Sakura and overwhelmed with relief that she is saved, that's why none of the implications of her actions gets through you."

"Oh just tell us sensei!" Naruto exclaims.

Kakashi nods and turn to Sakura. "This can all be known with a simple question. Sakura, do you know who I am?"

Everyone frowns at Kakashi's question. But they turn to Sakura to hear her answer.

Sakura's forehead crinkled in confusion.

"Of course…" She sneezes. She wipes her nose and looks up and stares at everyone in the eyes. "…not. I have no freaking idea who you all are or where the hell I am. So for the last time, what is going on?!"

 **A/N: Okay, this is generally a short chapter. But I wanted their confrontation to be done and over with! So what do you guys think?** **Also, I have already integrated some Western myths. Corpo Seco is from a Brazilian myth. And Mapushe is actually the Mapuche religion from the West. Anyway, I will update soon!**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 **A/N: Hi guys! I'm sorry that the update is taking too long. I decided to edit from chapter 1 to everything. I was correcting the tenses and even experimented with a present progressive at chapter 8 if you noticed. But I decided to put things in past progressive, because while the former is the most correct one, the latter is what we're all comfortable with. I just finished editing chapter 3. But because I'm so excited with what happens next, I decided to do chapter 9 first before I continue editing** **No reviews to answer today! So let's go chapter 9!**

 _Previously_

 _"This can all be known with a simple question. Sakura, do you know who I am?"_

 _Everyone frowned at Kakashi's question. But they turned to Sakura to hear her answer._

 _Sakura's forehead crinkled in confusion._

 _"Of course…" She sneezed. She wiped her nose and looked up and stared at everyone in the eyes. "…not. I have no freaking idea who you all are or where the hell I am. So for the last time, what is going on?!"_

NOW

"It's okay, I won't bite. You can ask me anything." A man with spiky silver hair told her. He seemed to be smiling with his dark grey right eye and his relaxed, heavy-lidded expression. But Sakura couldn't figure out if he was really smiling because his lower face was covered with a mask. He was also wearing a forehead protector around his forehead which was slightly tilted down to cover his left eye. Most of his face really weren't visible at all. But nevertheless, he looked respectable with his traditional headpiece and haori, along with a red, full-length kimono, tied using a white sash. She was told earlier that it was the attire of the Hokage, or the person that lead this country.

This person, or Kakashi as he introduced himself as, had lead her away from the rest of the group towards his office. It was chaos after she answered his question. Everyone around her started asking her questions and some even tried to hit her head, perhaps thinking that it might bring back her memories. Some tried to shake her and someone even tried to punch her. Kakashi had skillfully pushed everyone back and escaped with her in tow. He informed everyone as they ran that he will talk to her and find out what was going on.

She narrowed her eyes at the now relaxed man infront of her. "Why do you have a mask?" She asked, glaring at the black thing hiding his face.

Kakashi laughed. "So despite everything strange going round you, the first thing you ask is about my mask?"

Sakura's face flushed at that. He was right. She could ask where is she or why did everyone seem familiar with her or things like that. But she was really distracted by his mask. She wondered why he needed to hide his face from her.

Kakashi regarded her kindly. "I have always worn this mask. As for my left eye, that's a long story that I might tell you sometime. Or if you're lucky, perhaps you'll remember it yourself."

Sakura raised her brows. "There you go again. Why should I know anyone here? Why should I remember anything?"

"Hmm." Kakashi looked deep in thought, looking outside his window. "Well, in time, you might understand why."

"You expect me to stay?" Sakura asked incredulously.

"You expect not to?" Kakashi tilted his head. "I think you might have an idea on what is really going on."

Sakura shrugged. "I was focused on defeating Corpo Seco earlier. But I did notice some things. First of all, the 2 persons who helped me earlier are shinobi. The one who was orange and loud, and the other one who looked emo and gloomy-"

"Naruto and Sasuke." Kakashi said, interrupting her.

She nodded quickly. "Yeah, them. They were molding chakra so I assume they are shinobi."

Kakashi sighed. "It's so strange hearing you talk like you don't know us."

"But I-"

Kakashi raised a hand to stop her. "I know you actually don't. But it doesn't make it any less strange. Where do you think we are?"

"The shinobi world." Sakura replied, her tone almost asking.

Kakashi looked surprised. "The shinobi world? You talk as if you've been somewhere else other than the shinobi world. Do you mean that you have been in another world then?"

Sakura bit her lip nervously. The West had also been unaware of the other parts of the world. The concept of the north, south, east and west had always been just a myth. Of course, the appearance of the blood feeders from the north was a wake-up call for the West. It told them that perhaps there was more to the myth than they thought of. Sakura assumed that the shinobi world was completely ignorant to the myths as well. It might be a surprise for them. "Well, not another world per se. Just another part of this world far from this place." She said slowly, looking at Kakashi's reaction.

Kakashi's mask tilted down so it looked like he was frowning. "Okay, I'm going to ignore that for now. One issue at a time. Agreed?"

Sakura nodded, relieved. Explaining that would be a hard thing to do. Of course, how do you explain to someone who lived all their life thinking that they were the only kind of people in the world, then tell them that there were about 1000 more kinds of creatures existing and breeding. She shook her head. _Nope, not yet._ She decided. She would settle on a simpler question for now. "Okay. Let me ask you a real question now. You asked me earlier if I knew you. And I told you I don't. I'm curious though. Do you know me?"

"Yes." Kakashi said instantly.

Silence.

Sakura had been suspicious the moment she set foot here. As a matter of fact, even with her friends' insistence that they already rest at some inn, she pushed them to keep moving because she was so restless and excited, even though she couldn't understand why. She felt the chakra in the air and how strong it circulates, as if constantly used and manipulated. She felt thrilled for some unknown reason as she looked around and roamed around the village. Secretly, she was thankful that Calvin played his silly game of hide and seek so that it gave her the chance to keep exploring. There was something about this place, and the way people acted around her. Everything was clouded by a strange familiarity and comfort that she never felt at the West. For once, she felt at home.

So in all honesty, she was expecting him to say yes. Although she wasn't really ready to hear it yet. Sakura blinked at him, confusion flooding her mind. No matter how much she looked at him, she really didn't know him. She racked her brains to remember if she ever met this man before. But there was nothing. She stared hard at his face, but there was absolutely no recognition in her head. Maybe he was just messing with her. But then again, everyone seemed to expect her to know him. It was either she was right that perhaps she really did stumble in a forgotten memory, or she just actually forgot about him in her current memories. But then she wouldn't just forget a guy who had half his face hidden by a mask. Surely she would at least remember him that way. She narrowed her eyes at him, staring at his amused expression.

" _My first impression about you three…is that you're complete idiots.."_

Sakura gasped then put her palms on her head. She squeezed her eyes shut and winced in pain. _What was that?_ She thought as she bit her lip hard to distract the pain in her head.

"Sakura! Are you alright?" Kakashi said, jumping quickly to her side and putting an arm around her to help her remain on her feet.

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded, his eyes staring at where her palms are. He looked close to see if she was wounded. Sakura just shook her head.

"No. I'm fine. I just….I thought I remembered something." She said weakly. Funny thing was, she was remembering him. Kakashi. She had a vision of him saying that to her. Or to them….whoever she was with. When, why, and how, she doesn't know. But the picture in her head was so clear. _Kakashi sensei._ She winced in pain again. This time, she was remembering herself calling him that. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. No more memory lanes today, she was too exhausted for this.

She took a deep breath and stepped out of Kakashi's arms. She firmly placed her feet evenly on the floor so she could stand up straight. She motioned for Kakashi to return to his seat. Kakashi regarded her suspiciously, frowning at her lame attempt to look strong. But he nodded and went to sit behind his desk.

"So." Sakura said, maintaining a level voice. "You know me?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. And I really do. And not just me. Everyone outside knows you."

Sakura was becoming more confused by the second. She couldn't remember any of them. None of the faces outside were familiar. Except for that strange vision she had of Kakashi earlier, there was nothing in her memories about them. But maybe she was getting this all wrong. Maybe they knew her because they heard of her. But then if they did, then they must have heard about the West then. "But how?" She exclaimed. "So you know about the West? Is that where you heard about me? So does it mean that you get news from the West? President Brown never told me! As far as I know, we still believe that the shinobi world is a myth!"

Kakashi scratched his head. "I did not understand half of what you just said. I assume then that you came from this West and that you're quite known over there and President Brown is the West's version of me, the Hokage. But that's not what I mean. I meant to say that I have known you ever since you were just a student in the Academy. I have known you when you became genin and when you first learned the first things about being a shinobi. I have known you when you grew to take apprenticeship with Tsunade, the greatest medic nin known. I have known you when you stepped up during the war and saved many lives, healing many people. I have known you when you approached me exactly 5 years ago and told me you want an identity for yourself so you needed to leave Konoha."

Sakura gaped at him and blinked slowly, trying to digest the words he just said. So she was right after all. This was a forgotten memory. This was about the identity that she fought so hard to find all those years. Basically, this was her past. She tried to ignore her theory for a little while earlier, scared of what would happen next if this really turned out to be her home. But she couldn't run away from this anymore. After all, what was the sense of searching for her past if she didn't want to face it anyway?

Finally accepting his words, all the confusing haze from earlier started to make sense. Her vision of him itself was the strongest indication that he might be telling the truth. After all, it also explained her sudden appearance at the West precisely 5 years ago as well. Along with the strange familiarity. The serenity she felt for this place. The comfortability with everyone around her despite them weirding her out.

But this was just all so sudden. She wasn't prepared. Not yet. Her only goal was really only to find her past, but then she never really planned as far as what would she do when she finally finds it. She was clueless now. How could she live in the past when she was now a different person from the future? What if they all start expecting her to be like that girl she had forgotten? What if she was so different that they would shun her away and consider the girl from before as dead, killed by the new memories of her?

No, this was too much to think about for today. She died earlier and was just revived. She travelled months across the sea chasing a criminal on the loose. She spent weeks before that trying to figure out where this criminal was, travelling from village to village, looking for clues.

This was all just so exhausting. Thinking about this made her tired to the bones. But then, this was what she had always looked for. She always felt misplaced because she didn't really know who she was or where she came from. The West had been great to her, but she would always be that someone who came from somewhere else. She had been a beloved guest. But she never really felt at home over there. She could feel her inner battle, that past self who was fighting to return to her consciousness. She always felt like she was missing something real and personal. She was never contented no matter how happy she was feeling at any day. She wanted to be on her feet all the time because it seemed like if she moved a lot, then at some point she would be able to return home. She looked everywhere for any trace of who she was but there was nothing. She never had a glimpse of her past no matter how hard she thought about it. She had always yearned to know, she longed to return. And now, it was all within her reach. But then what now?

She was silent for so long that Kakashi almost returned to her side and check on her again.

But after a few more beats, Sakura took a deep breath and stared at Kakashi in the eye. "You know my past self." She said in a statement, not even asking about it anymore.

She realized she had been holding her breath when the world started swaying before her eyes. She released her breath and clutched her pained chest, whether it was because of her suffocation or because she was so surprised about being home, she didn't know. She just had a need to protect herself.

Kakashi smiled. "Yes I do. I was your sensei once, your teacher. So I do know you quite well. But so do the others outside."

 _Ahhh. Kakashi Sensei. That's what the vision means. He was my teacher._

Sakura's hand was shaking. "I-I don't….I-just…"

Kakashi stood up from his chair and went around his desk to put a hand on her shoulder. He squeezed it reassuringly. "It's okay Sakura. I know this might be a lot to take in for you. We'll take things slowly, okay?"

Sakura looked up. "Sakura. Everyone keeps calling me that. Is that my name?"

Kakashi looked at her. "It is. Haruno Sakura. That's your name. Your other friends call you Rose though. Is that what you want us to call you for now?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I….I want to be called Sakura, my real name." She bit her lip nervously. "Ha-ru-no Sa-ku-ra." She said, testing it out.

"Sakura." Kakashi said, calling her. She immediately looked up. She was startled at her instant reaction, but then somehow, it felt just right. Kakashi smiled at her.

"Here. I'll show you something." Kakashi led her to his desk and indicated a photo frame. The photo showed Kakashi with 3 kids. Two of them were scowling, and it looked very much like a younger Naruto and Sasuke. Kakashi had his hands on their heads and was beaming up at the camera. At the middle of Naruto and Sasuke was a girl smiling widely with her eyes closed in joy, she had a shocking pink long hair and a forehead protector by her hair, used as a headband.

"That's me!" She exclaimed, pointing at the girl.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, that's you. That is team 7, our original team, before we all got separated by different events, including your going missing."

"Oh. So that's why being with them felt so natural. I mean, I feel so comfortable and safe around them." Sakura said, deep in thought. "And we work well together. My body moved as if it knew how to work with them."

"Of course. I personally like to call us the dream team." Kakashi grinned at her, and Sakura finally found it in herself to laugh because of his enthusiastic teacher's pride.

"Okay. No. I refuse to be put under a team called dream team." She said, still chuckling. "Well, I admit this is a lot to take in. And I personally feel unprepared. Can I….Can I have a moment? I just….I need to think. I have an identity crisis."

Kakashi chuckled at that. In all fairness, it seemed like Sakura had grown a lot since they last met. She was stronger and firmer. And despite her being shaky at finding her past, she was more confident. At any rate, despite what she lost, she gained a lot. And for that, he was proud of her. He couldn't wait to pit his 3 students against each other, perhaps in one training session just to see how much everyone has grown….of course without removing somebody's body part this time.

"Of course. Take all the time you need. Just don't wander off too long okay? Your friends are waiting for you." Then he smiled. "All of them. Your new ones….and the old ones."

Sakura nodded. "Of course. Oh and just go ask my friends…er the new ones, whatever you need, okay? They'll tell you anything. I promise to fill in any more thing when I return."

Kakashi beamed at her, hoping that this would comfort the confused girl. Sakura smiled back sweetly. Then she vanished.

Kakashi blinked. Was he talking to a clone all this time? But that's impossible. He was almost sure that he was really talking to a solid Sakura. She couldn't have fooled him like that.

Confused, he walked out the door to meet and ask these "new friends" that she talked about.

KJLKJ:LDKAJ:DKLASJD:LKASDADK:WODASOKDLASDK

"KAKASHI SENSEI! You're back!" Naruto yelled, jumping up from his seat as he ran towards Kakashi. Then he looked around, noticing the missing pink haired girl. "Wait, where's Sakura chan?! What happened? Why is she not with you? Is she still inside?"

Sasuke ran up beside Naruto and glared at Kakashi, his eyes demanding the same thing.

Kakashi sighed. "Step out of the way. I need to talk to her friends."

"That's enough Kakashi." Sasuke growled in anger. "Stop treating us like children. You can't keep us out of this anymore. Tell us what the hell is going on!"

Kakashi almost smiled at Sasuke. Sasuke's concern for his old teammate was finally showing. For years, he pretended that he couldn't care less about her going missing. And even beyond that, he also acted like he didn't care about her in the past as well. Of course, he probably really didn't back then. But it was evident now that he did.

"Okay fine." Kakashi said, looking amused at his old students. "Come with me and we'll ask her friends."

"BUT WHERE IS SHE?!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi ignored him and stepped towards Allison and Calvin who were being hounded by everyone.

"Why did she say she couldn't remember Kakashi?!"

"Who are you two and where did you come from?!"

"Why are you calling her Rose?!"

"Why is your source of power a stick!"

"Where did you take Sakura all these years!"

"Why do you heal with leaves?"

Calvin and Allison were huddled together while everyone formed a circle around them, each asking a different question. They looked close to tears, clasping each other's hand.

"Okay, guys enough." Kakashi said calmly, taking pity on the two terrified strangers. "Step back. I'm going to question them."

They both looked up at him and shook their heads. "Please. Don't ask us anymore. This is none of our business. Ask Rose. She'll tell you what's going on." Allison pleaded, stepping behind Calvin, who jumped and stepped behind her instead. She glared at him. He pouted and buried his face on her head. She blushed and looked at Kakashi again, trying to concentrate.

"Well. She told me to ask you two and that you'll tell me anything." Kakashi said slowly, as if talking to children. He didn't want to frighten them anymore. They are guests after all, especially if they were Sakura's friends.

Calvin's head snapped up at what he said. "She said WHAT?! Oh no no no. She's not passing this to us. Where is that idiot?"

Kakashi shrugged, amused at how this was turning out. "She disappeared. Said she needed time to think."

"NOOOOO!" Calvin wailed. "She really left this to us Allison." He hugged her and sobbed dry tears. "That girl is so evil sometimes."

Allison laughed. "But that's so Rose. We should have known she would really do this. Anyway Calvin, Rose must be frightened right now. The least we can do is help her out."

Calvin shook his head in exasperation. But he agreed with Allison. To be honest, he knew that Sakura would freak out. She came to do a mission. And then found her home instead. It would be too much for her to handle at the moment. They knew that she wanted nothing more but to go home. And now she was here. She must be really freaking out.

Calvin sighed and nodded in defeat.

"Fine." He said, rolling his eyes. "Ask away and we'll answer the best that we can."

Everyone started sprouting up questions again, but Kakashi held up his hand to silence everyone.

"No. You all can't ask a question at the same time. Naruto, Sasuke, come here." Kakashi said, ushering the 2 towards him. Naruto and Sasuke immediately appeared beside him, looking determined.

"You go ask in everyone's behalf." He said, knowing that his 2 students were dying to know what was going on with their beloved teammate.

Naruto looked like he was about to cry with gratitude, but before he could say anything to express a loud thanks to Kakashi, Sasuke stepped closer to Allison and Calvin.

"Why did Sakura say that she couldn't remember Kakashi…or all of us?" He said directly, his intense gaze boring down on the two. They flinched under his glare. But Calvin cleared his throat and bravely met Sasuke's eyes. _This is for Rose._ He chanted to himself. Sasuke really freaked him out. He was handsome and gorgeous alright, but he was so dark and mysterious, yet so cool. _Like James._ Calvin shook his head to clear unnecessary thoughts.

"She has amnesia. Obviously. She appeared at the West 5 years ago not knowing anything. Not even her name." He said, shrugging. Everyone gasped.

"SERIOUSLY?! Billboard brows cannot remember anything?! At all? Not even…Not even….Say, Sasuke?!" Ino shrieked, her eyes wide with shock. Sasuke turned to Ino, annoyed at her loud deafening voice. Then Allison caught a glance of his back, where the Uchiha crest was engraved.

"Oh wait. She remembers you." Allison suddenly said. Everyone turned to look at her. She blushed and looked down. Sasuke stepped in front of her.

"What do you mean?" He said, sounding emotionless. But peeking up at him, Allison could see the glimmer of hope in his eyes. _Wow, another seriously handsome guy. Man, Rose is surrounded with them._ She looked away from his black tantalizing eyes and sighed.

"She….she once said that she remembered looking at someone who have that same crest behind you." She said softly.

Ino gasped. "Aha! That girl! Forgetting everything but Sasuke. Typical."

Calvin scoffed. "Oh please she only ever remembered the symbol itself."

Everyone turned to Calvin in curiosity. He sounded annoyed that Sakura would remember Sasuke at all.

"Why? Is there a problem with that?" Sasuke said in a low voice, his voice laced with a threat.

This time, there was no trace of fear on Calvin's face. He met Sasuke's glare and smirked. "Yes because she's my-"

But before he could say whatever it was he was going to say, Allison clasped a hand on his mouth.

"What are you doing?! Are you insane? We're not at the West! You can't say things like that!" Allison whispered to him frantically.

"Ooops. Sorry, it was just a natural thing to do for us. Protect each other." Calvin whispered back, confused at the panic in Allison's eyes.

"Well shut up. Remember, this is Rose's home. That guy could be more than just a fan boy to Rose. You might ruin things for her. And you know how nervous Rose already is about her return." Allison scolded him quietly. Calvin paled at what she said. Allison was right, he could have ruined something for Rose if Allison was not quick enough to shut him up.

"She's your what?" Sasuke demanded, his voice dangerously low.

Calvin looked down, feeling ashamed. "Nothing."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Okay. Moving on. Continue asking questions."

"I want to know what he was going to say before that girl stopped him." Sasuke insisted, pointing rudely at them.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh shut up Teme. It's not important. He already said nothing so stop grilling them unnecessarily. Let me ask the next question. How did she get that damned amnesia? What was she doing that made her lose her memories?'

Calvin looked up at Naruto with gratitude in his eyes for stopping Sasuke from picking a fight with them. So he answered him, "She was travelling to the West when she met those mermaids. They are the guardians of the great ocean that separates the West and the East. Those mermaids, if they activate their power, can suck the memories out of people by asking them questions, and sucking the answers from their memories. Fortunately, Sakura defeated her mermaid so the memories snapped back to her head. But they remain closed. So she still doesn't remember."

"She has told me about that West earlier too but I don't understand." Kakashi said, crossing his arms in contempt. "The great ocean that you are talking about should be at the south of this country isn't it? Then sailing towards the eastern waters if you cross it, you should have returned back at the western part of the country."

Calvin shrugged. "That's what we thought too. We thought when we crossed the ocean from our western borders, then we would circle back to the east. But evidently, we ended up somewhere else."

Naruto scratched his head. "This is all so confusing. Just tell us where the hell you guys come from?!"

"The West." Calvin and Allison said together. Allison looked at all of them warily, then sighed in defeat. She could try to not explain all day, but they would only drag this out if they were not satisfied with the answers. "The West, the world of the variety."

Shikamaru gasped from the side. "That's impossible! The existence of that world is only a myth!"

Kakashi turned to Shikamaru. "Ah so you have read that book too?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yes. It was an old ancient book that I only bothered to read because it looked like it might contain information that could help us in the war a few years back. I read about the myth of the 4 kingdoms. The North of the blood feeders. The South of the devils. The West of the variety. And the East of the shinobi. But I quickly dismissed it because it was stupid."

Calvin chuckled. "Well, we also thought this shinobi world is a myth too."

Shikamaru turned to him with a hard glare. "Don't take us for fools. You cannot lie to us with silly stories."

Allison rolled her eyes. "If Rose was here, she could easily take us to the West to show you all that we're telling the truth."

Kakashi raised his brows. "Sakura can teleport?"

Allison looked at him questioningly. "Yes. Didn't you know? But only with this." Then she pulled out a rock with a seal on it.

Naruto immediately jumped to Allison's side and took the rock from her. Allison yelped. "Hey!"

"Th-This is-" Naruto stuttered, examining the rock. Kakashi came to him and took the rock away from Naruto. Naruto snatched it away again. "Kakashi sensei. This is dad's Hiraishin no Jutsu. His teleportation technique."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Exactly what has Sakura been doing at…er…this West that you are talking about? I have seen her do jutsus earlier from different elements and I have seen her do an impossible medical technique. And now she can do the teleportation jutsu that not even Naruto, the Fourth's son, could perfect. Is that how she disappeared from my office as well?"

Allison tilted her head. "Did she just vanish?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yes."

"Oh then she must have teleported to one of the places she planted her rock on."

Before Kakashi could repeat his questions, Calvin already took the initiative to answer. "I would understand the shock because she did try to study that technique for months. It was difficult because it requires the manipulation of space and time continuum rather than just chakra so she did pour out her heart and soul to master that one."

"That's not the point-" Kakashi started. But Calvin interrupted him. "Look, President Brown, our…mm…Hokage from our country, thinks that Sakura was cursed with being a supporting role from where she came from. But she was different in our country. She is probably stronger now than you'll ever dream of. After all, with no home and family to go home to, all she ever did was train and explore her new powers."

"New powers?" Sasuke asked, his mind going back to Sakura's attacks earlier to Corpo Seco.

"Uhhhh. I am going to leave that one to Rose. Sorry." Calvin said awkwardly. He can only take this explaining thing so far. They just told everyone that they lived in a much bigger world than they imagined. He was not about to tell them as well that this sweet girl at the sides that they had known all their lives might be monstrously stronger than the rest of them.

Sasuke looked like he would insist on it again. But he let it go, choosing to ask another question. "You didn't answer Kakashi's question. What had Sakura been doing in your West all these years?"

Allison smiled. "She is our hero. She is a part of our police force and she had been vital to a lot of the force's operations and missions. She saved us so many times I can't keep count anymore."

Kakashi nodded, feeling his teacher's pride again. Even if Sakura might not have been remembering him and his teachings at all when she was being their hero. She was still Sakura, and somewhere deep inside, she would still be the same girl he taught and took care of.

Naruto looked at Allison and Calvin thoughtfully. "Ahhhh that's why she has a team. She works with your police. Ha! That's our Sakura. Being a kunoichi is in her blood of course."

They all asked a few more questions, quite calmly this time since things were starting to get clearer. They wanted to know more about the West, and Calvin and Allison even had to demonstrate their powers just so that they would believe that they really were different from them. Calvin had to summon the ancient witches that he called on whenever he used his magic, and Allison had to cut off her pinky finger and used her "magic leaves" to make them grow again. They also asked about Sakura, what she was like now, what her life had been in the West.

Calvin and Allison were observing everything and everyone happily. They were happy that their friend seemed to come from a vibrant and happy place. Sakura could have been from a horrible past of death, abandonment, and loneliness. But it looked like she had a vibrant home with genuinely loving friends. It would have been terrible if Sakura had to find out that her home was bad. But at least it turned out that she was from a really nice place. But then again, Sakura was a really awesome person so it was only natural that it was because she came from an awesome place.

Finally, Calvin and Allison was able to convince everyone to just ask Sakura herself about the other things they were still curious about. After all, all of this was about her. She would be the best person to tell them about her new self. Looking around at each of them, they were sure that everything would definitely go well for Sakura. She would definitely be happy here.

"I wonder where Sakura is right now." Ino said, looking around. She felt relieved now that she knew what was going on with her bestfriend. She was finally home after all. And there might be a little complication, but Sakura really felt like she was the same old person she knew. She called her pig without knowing that it was what she had always called her. And Ino knew she wasn't fat, so she was pretty sure that Sakura called her that from habit, even though she probably did so unconsciously. She was positive that everything would return to how it was, and probably even better. So where was that girl now?

Calvin shrugged. "She always had a habit of going off on her own…" Everyone looked confused. "….er…at least when she was with us, she did that. Probably because she felt lost and alone. She's confused and scared right now. She'll come back when she's ready."

"Oh man! I hope she comes back soon! I'm going to treat her to Ichiraku for a week." Naruto said, grinning. "I'm just glad she's back now. I am never going to let her go off on her own again."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Dobe. What are you, her father?"

Hinata gasped from the sides. "Mmmm N-Naruto K-kun, we should really tell Mebuki-san and Kizashi-san that Sakura-chan is home."

Kakashi suddenly straightened. "Oh that's right! I forgot. We should immediately inform her parents. How stupid of me to forget. Thank you Hinata."

Everyone laughed and shook their heads at Kakashi. Telling Sakura's parents should have been the first thing he should have done. They watched him ran off towards the village residences in a hurry.

Calvin and Allison smiled at this. The leader seemed silly and funny, but they could feel the trust of everyone in him. He was competent and strong without showing off, just like their President Brown. Sakura will definitely be safe and sound here.

LJFESHFIEJIWAJEIWQUEIWJDSAKJDASIWIWADJAKWD

"There you are!" A loud slurred voice called out to Sakura. She was sitting at the foot of a beautiful cherry blossom tree, letting the wind dance with her hair along with the petals of the blossoms. Her hair looked like a flying blossom itself. It was very peaceful here, and she found serenity losing herself here for a while.

She turned towards the person who was making her way towards her. It was a radiant woman, who had a shoulder length blond hair tied in two loose pony tails. She was wearing a grass-green haori with a grey, kimono-style blouse with no sleeves, held closed by a broad, dark bluish-grey obi that matches her pants. But her most noticeable quality was her big and healthy bosom. Sakura's eyes even immediately zoomed in on it. It was hard to not notice it. It jiggled happily as the woman approached her, looking intoxicated as her steps faltered.

"Sakura. There you are." She slumped down next to her, her face flushed. "I went to the others after Katsuyu told me that you are back. But I heard that you went off on your own. I figured you'd be here."

Sakura blinked at the woman. _Here we go again_ , Sakura thought tiredly. This was another person that she must have known from the past, and she really didn't feel like repeating her sob story again.

The woman laughed at her expression. "Oh don't give me that look. I heard enough to know that you probably don't remember me. I'm Tsunade by the way. You're my apprentice. And boy, am I glad to see you at last. You had me worrying for too long. I didn't teach you all that to just die as a lost kid."

"Huh? But I thought Kakashi was my sensei?" Sakura asked, looking at the woman with growing interest. _Oooooohh another teacher of mine! This is awesome. Back at the West, I always had to study and feel things out on my own._ She thought excitedly. She felt great respect for this woman, and even to some extent, fear. She believed that she really must have studied under her, even though she reeked of alcohol and she looked like she was about to faint in any second.

"You're judging my drunkenness aren't you? Sorry, I didn't really know that you'd return today. So I was just having a little fun. But Ha! Drinking is life dear girl. Somehow, that's one thing you never really absorbed from me. Everything else, you got. We were the best medic nin, and I'm proud to say that I was the one who took you there. Now let me see it?" Tsunade said, swaying a little. But she extended a hand towards her to brush Sakura's hair back. She tapped a finger to her forehead.

"There." She said, referring to the small diamond on Sakura's forehead. Then she tapped on her own forehead to show the same diamond imprinted there.

"You also have that?!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise. "I always thought that it was some sort of stupid birthmark!"

Tsunade laughed. "Nope. This is the Strength of the hundred seal. When you're feeling better, I can tell you about it again. I'm sure you didn't rust off on the medical skills I thought you, right?"

Sakura smiled and shook her head. "Nope. As a matter of fact, the first thing I ever remembered after losing my memory is that I'm a medic nin."

"That's my girl." Tsunade said, beaming at her. "Now let me ask you. What are you running from now? You know Naruto and the others had gone crazy looking for you before. And even I did. You were excused at that time because you lost your head, yes. But now? You're offending us by continuing to run."

Sakura looked away sadly. "I know. But I….I'm just…I don't know what to do."

Tsunade shifted closer to her and frowned. "You don't know what to do? What else is there to do but go home?! You just go back and let things happen!"

"But…" Sakura said consciously. "What if I'm not who you all think I am anymore? What if the girl you all knew is dead? Inside me? Because I can't remember her anymore? What if I disappoint you guys? What if I don't belong here anymore? What if-"

"Sakura, you're still so noisy even after all these years." Tsunade grumbled, cutting her off. She grabbed Sakura's chin and forced her to face Tsunade. "Stop being a wuss. What did you feel when you stepped in this place?"

Sakura thought about it. "Well." She replied. "I felt….at peace. Like this is where I'm supposed to be."

Tsunade nodded. "Yeah. I can see that in your eyes. So I don't understand why you're still fighting it. How can you assume that you'll be misplaced if you yourself feel like you belong? Who decides if you'll be misplaced or not? It's all just you." Tsunade released her chin and laid back on the trunk of the tree. "You see Sakura, you're not as different from before or as lost as you thought yourself to be. You're still noisy. You're still irritably conscious in some ways. You're still hot headed. You're still determined. You're still compassionate." Tsunade inhaled and looked up to the sky. "You're still you, Sakura. I was watching you since earlier. I didn't really know it was you, I just saw a pink haired woman going around town. I watched you interact with your friends, and really, it's like you didn't even lose your memory. I think you only forgot some specific parts, but the Sakura we all know is still there."

Sakura's worried eyes softened as she listened to Tsunade's words. "Everything will be alright?" She asked, fear still lingering in her voice.

Tsunade nodded, grinning. "Of course. It will be alright because it's you. You're strong and amazing, as my student, naturally."

Sakura laughed. "Thank you..mmm…." She paused, not really knowing how she should address her master.

"Tsunade-sama." Tsunade answered for her.

Sakura smiled. "Tsunade-sama."

Tsunade suddenly jumped up from her seat. She stood straighter now than her wobbling self earlier.

"All that serious talk sobered me up." Tsunade said grumpily. But she lent a hand out to Sakura. "Come on. Let's not worry your friends for too long."

"Yes!" Sakura said enthusiastically. She took Tsunade's hand and pulled herself up. As they walk side by side to go back to their friends, Sakura finally felt more enthusiastic and less afraid of what the future has in store for her.

KJNDLKSAJDLAKSJDFKLJFLKSAJDWAIODJSALKDASLD

They all decided to treat their guests to Yakiniku Q, Konoha's barbecue place, while they wait for Sakura's return.

"Wow, this is the best!" Calvin exclaimed as he helped himself to salted beef tongue with Welsh onion. "Man if I have known that this place exists here, then I would have hunted down the shinobi world earlier!"

Choji chuckled. "I know, right? This place has always been our refuge! At least for me, Ino, and Shikamaru."

Naruto was hoarding down food down his throat, but he swallowed quickly and faced Calvin with a big smile. "If you stay longer, I'll treat you to Ichiraku's! They serve the best ramen!"

Hinata giggled. "N-Naruto kun loves Ramen."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Naruto is married to Ramen. But he's right though. You guys have to try that out too."

Tenten nudged Allison. "You guys will be staying here for a while right?"

Allison shrugged, smiling at everyone's warm acceptance. "I don't know. We still have to report our mission back to President Brown. But since Rose….mmm..Sakura will be here from now on, we definitely would be stopping by as much as we can. Hope you don't get sick of us." She shook her head. "It's gonna be weird calling her Sakura from now on."

Ino patted Allison's arm. "Oh don't force yourselves to call her Sakura. It's fine if you call her Rose. Think of it as a nickname. I call her billboard brows as a nickname. Anyway, she'll always be half Rose from now on, after all!"

Shikamaru tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Funny how intense Sakura is from your stories. She's usually back up for Naruto and Sasuke. A medic nin by the sides, and will go on offensive only if necessary."

Calvin widened his eyes. "Ha! I could never imagine Rose just going on the sides. But knowing her, she'll probably step back and not show her powers to you guys."

Allison turned to Calvin, looking confused. "Why do you say that?"

"Well." Calvin started, licking his lips as he reached for more food. "Sometimes, I feel like Rose is terrified with the amount of pressure on her. We always think she'll save the day. It's the role we gave her you know. If she has always been a side person here, then being here might free her from that. I don't know. Rose is strong and dependable, but I know she's also scared that if she fails, then every harm that will be accrued from that will be her fault."

Naruto scoffed. "Why would she think that?! At the very least, at least she would have tried! She can fail, but then she would die with honor, with her last thoughts trying to save the people that matters to her. And if she showed enough determination, then perhaps her will would be passed on to others, then others can continue for her."

Calvin smiled at Naruto. "Ahhhh you're the hero of this village I presume?"

Kiba made a choking sound. "Oh please. He's just full of air."

Naruto's eyes widened. He shook his fists at Kiba. "Hey you dog breath! What were you saying to me?!"

"I said you're full of air! In arrogance and stupidity!" Kiba yelled, standing up.

Naruto stood up angrily as well. "Who's full of air?!"

"YOU! IDIOT!"

"DOG FACE! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S STUPID! DATING A DOG INSTEAD OF A GIRL!"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Then they started bickering. The owner didn't pay them any attention, so Calvin and Allison assumed that this happened all the time.

"Dobes." Sasuke muttered from the side, shaking his head.

Calvin started to laugh while Allison giggled. From the commotion the two had started, they accidentally knocked off Allison's bag of herbs from the table.

"Oh." Allison exclaimed as she reached down the table to pick up her bag. But someone picked it up before she could.

"Here." A man wearing a flak jacket and a set of sunglasses said. He wore a grey shirt with matching pants under his light-grey button-up jacket. He also had a hood kept over his head.

Allison blinked up at him. "Oh. Thanks."

"You should just put your bag on the floor. It will fall again anyway since these two looks like they wouldn't be stopping anytime soon." The man said matter of factly.

Allison shrugged. "Yeah I was thinking the same thing." She said, putting her bag on the floor next to her feet.

The man stooped down and held the strap of her bag in his hands. "Lift your foot." He told her without looking up. Allison raised her brows but she did as he said. He carefully looped the strap around her legs then gently placed the bag back on the floor.

"If you just leave it on the floor, then someone could just snatch it away without any of us noticing. You have to keep it tied to you." He said simply.

Allison nodded in agreement. "Okay. Thank you." She faced him and gave him a small smile. "Allison." She said in introduction, holding her hand up. He took it swiftly. "Shino." He said, nodding.

Releasing his hand, Allison looked around the table then at Shino. "I haven't heard you spoke at all since earlier. Don't you want us around?"

Shino shook his head. He threw a glance at Naruto and Kiba who were still fighting, this time about barbecue vs ramen. "They wouldn't notice anyway even if I speak up." He said grumpily.

Just then, Kiba stopped fighting with Naruto and faced Shino. "Awwww Shino, that's not true! Are you still angry with us about the other day?!" He put an arm around Shino, who only shook it off and stubbornly looked away. Kiba chuckled. "We were on a mission the other day by a small waterfalls." He told Allison, who was listening with amusement. "Me and Hinata were discussing tactics. Shino was trying to tell us a suggestion, but we couldn't hear him so he taught we were ignoring him."

Shino crossed his arms. "Hinata has a softer voice than me yet you can hear her."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "She was right next to me! Of course I can hear her! You, on the other hand, were right next to the falls!"

Shino shook his head and still stubbornly looked away. "You listen to Hinata. You never listen to me."

Allison laughed. It was hilarious to witness a man who looked and acted serious throw a mini tantrum. Shino's cheeks redden lightly as he watched Allison laugh. Kiba's eyes widen.

"Aha! What is this?! You're a man now Shino!" Kiba yelled, pumping a fist in the air. Shino pushed him away, his face flushing brighter. "Shut up Kiba."

Then Kiba started to tease Shino in whispers so Allison wouldn't hear. Shino was angrily trying to push him away, since Kiba had forcefully put an arm around him. Allison continued giggling as he watched the two bicker. Naruto and Chouji were eating their food happily, while Naruto loudly told stories as he ate. Hinata was absorbed in listening to him. Shikamaru and Sasuke were looking at the window, Shikamaru felt bored while Sasuke was patiently waiting. Ino and Sai were talking about paintings of flowers. Lee was telling Tenten and Calvin about stories of youth while Tenten was just rolling her eyes at him. This was the scene that Sakura came to as she and Tsunade approached the group.

Sakura paused, watching everyone having fun. Tsunade smiled. "See? This is your family Sakura. The old and the new. And they seem to get along quite well. If they can, why couldn't you as well?"

Sakura nodded with a smile. "Thank you Tsunade sama." She said softly, regarding the older woman with respect and admiration, familiar feelings that she supposed she had always felt for her master. Tsunade beamed at her. "Okay, now go meet your friends."

Tsunade gave Sakura a little push on her back. Then she turned away so that Sakura could do this on her own. Sakura took a deep breath and approached the loud table.

"H-Hi." She said, nerves creeping up her voice.

Everyone went silent and turned to her. She shuffled awkwardly on her feet. Then suddenly, Naruto jumped up from his seat, knocking the bowl of food he was eating to the floor, then he ran towards her. "SAKURA CHAN!" He screamed, pouncing on her and squeezing her in a suffocating hug.

"Aw! DAMN IT LET GO! You're killing me!" Sakura complained, trying to push Naruto's face.

"I THOUGHT YOU ESCAPED AGAIN!" Naruto wailed, sobbing again.

Sakura groaned in annoyance. "And leave Calvin and Allison behind? Wow you must think very highly of me. Idiot." Everyone laughed, watching the weirdly familiar scene unfold before them. Naruto lifted Sakura up in their hug. Sakura shrieked. She hit Naruto's head, making him stumble back with a bump on his head.

"Ow. Sakura chaaaaan, that huuuuurts." Naruto said, caressing the bump that Sakura gave him.

She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. "You're such a cry baby! Grow up." She said, irritated. But behind her voice, everyone could hear the fondness. It was exactly like the old days.

"SAKURA! SAKURA BABY! ARE YOU HERE?" A loud voice of an older woman screamed, voice cracking from her sobs. A fair skinned woman appeared inside the restaurant. She had a shoulder-length, blonde hair with a single bang which falls down into her face. She also had green eyes and she was wearing a white qipao dress with three red circular designs at the bottom of the front of her dress. She was followed by an older man. He had blue eyes, and dull-pink hair which is styled into the shape of a cherry blossom. He had a darker skin-tone and he also had sideburns which flow into his angular moustache and a bit of stubble on his chin. He wore a dark, loose-fitting kimono-shirt which had a green, inner-lining and sleeves which extend beyond his kimono shirt.

"SAKURA! Are you hiding somewhere?! We can always play hide and seek if you want." The man said in a booming voice. The woman punched his shoulder.

"Stop kidding around Kizashi! We need to find our daughter!" She said, annoyance flashing from her tear stained face.

Kizashi scratched his head. "But Mebuki, isn't that the point of hide and seek? We would look and find our daughter?"

Ino chuckled under her breath. "Well, aren't they as intense as ever."

Sakura stood frozen, watching Kizashi and Mebuki bicker like an old couple.

" _SAKURAAAAAAA!"_

" _SAKURA!"_

" _There you are! You just ran off. We've been looking everywhere for you! We're exhausted. Now you're ex-losted! Get it? Cause we found you! HAHAHA"_

" _You are too much you know that! UMPH! What is going child, you're so melodramatic!"_

" _You know Sakura, your mother only pesters you because she worries about you. You should listen to what she says."_

Sakura gasps, the sudden vision of a memory startling her. She remembered feeling relieved and a rush of appreciation as she heard them saying those words. She remembered crying and hugging them tight because she thought they were gone forever. She remembered regretting that she wished them gone. She remembered feeling lucky that she had them by her side.

"M-Mom….D-Dad." She said, her voice breaking as she held back a sob. All those years of being alone in her home at the West, brooding in the dark, spending Christmas on her own, sleeping hungry because she was too tired to make her food.

She suddenly remembered hating that her parents were home back then. She wanted to be free on her own, she wanted to do things as she liked, she wanted to not hear any scoldings when she did something wrong. But she all experienced it during her time in the West. She was all alone, and she was completely free, but it made her sad and lonely. She realized she desperately missed them, her parents. She started to shake as one part of her closed off memories started to open to recognize her own parents, who stood before her with shocked looks on their faces.

"Sakura?" Her mother asked hesitantly, slowly walking towards her, as if afraid that she might disappear.

"Is that Sakura? She's too pretty to be Sakura, Mebuki. Let's look somewhere else." Kizashi said, looking at Sakura uncertainly. Mebuki punched Kizashi. "YOU ARE SUCH AN IDIOT!"

"Ow! Woman, that hurts!"

Then suddenly, the two of them were engulfed in a big hug. Sakura clung to them, sobbing hard, tears streaming down her face.

"Mom! Dad!" She cried softly, rubbing her face to their necks.

Mebuki started crying again. "Y-You stupid girl! How can you go off like that and disappear! You made us so worried!" Mebuki tried to keep a stern voice, but it wavered and betrayed her longing and worry for her daughter. She hugged back Sakura and held her tight. "Don't you ever do that again, understand?!"

"Y-Yeah Sakura." Kizashi said, his voice betraying a gruffness as well, tears started falling from his face. He buried his face on Sakura's hair to hide his crying from everyone. "Don't go lost again okay? 5 years is too long to play hide and seek."

Sakura giggled between her parents. "Yes mom. Yes Dad. I love you." She said, not wanting to waste any more time in expressing how she felt. Her mom and Dad hugged her tighter, as they bundle in a group of tears and sobbing.

Everyone started feeling teary eyed as well to the family's reunion.

Kakashi stood behind the family and smiled. "Well, all's well that ends well."

Calvin was crying at the table while Allison looked at Sakura happily, overjoyed that her friend finally found her home.

"Well Calvin, I guess it's time we go back?" She said, untying the loop that Shino tied on her leg to pick up her bag.

Calvin nodded. "Yeah Let's."

ISJDFLKJFLKSDDSFEJOIEJLDSJFLKDSJFESJOEI

"Hey Sakura chan! You're going back right?" Naruto said, eyeing her warily.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm taking Kakashi Sensei with me aren't I? I just need to go with him to the West to make introductions then we go back. Stop worrying!"

They decided that Kakashi should go to the West so that he can meet with President Brown, that way they can make arrangements with the West and the shinobi world. It was important that they deliver the discovery to the West especially since the 2 worlds is meeting each other for the first time. It's only smart to start off as friends. And with Sakura being a vital person to each world, it should go smoothly.

"Kakashi sensei! Why can't Sasuke and I go with you?!" Naruto complained. Sasuke was beside him, nodding in agreement.

Kakashi sighed. "We can't suddenly appear there with a bunch of strangers. Especially since Sakura is going to use her teleportation technique. We would pop out of nowhere and we can't have them panicking at a bunch of strangers. One at a time okay? I won't let Sakura escape. Don't worry."

Sakura gaped at them. "Why do you keep thinking I'll escape?! I got lost the first time around okay?! I didn't disappear on purpose!"

Sasuke raised his brows at her. "Who's to say you won't meet another mermaid and you'll fall prey again, stupid as you are."

Sakura turned to him, reeling in anger. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

"Like you took care of yourself back then and lost your memories?" Sasuke said, his voice provoking her. Sakura glared at him and finally decided to ignore him.

"Men and their I'm-stronger-than-everyone attitude." She muttered under her breath.

Kakashi heard her and chuckled. "Leave her alone Sasuke. I'll watch over her." He nodded at Sasuke reassuringly. Sasuke turned away and started walking away. "I don't care."

Sakura glared at Sasuke as he walked out of sight. Then she sighed. "He would be cuter if he smiled."

Ino laughed. "Then he'll never be cuter."

Sakura pursed her lips and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Kakashi sighed. He thought that Sasuke finally cared about Sakura. He watched Sasuke go out of sight and wondered if things would ever go smoothly between his team 7.

Naruto scowled at where Sasuke had been while Sakura looked determined to ignore their grumpy teammate.

Kakashi tugged on Sakura's arm. "Let's go Sakura."

Sakura nodded, then she handed a stone to Naruto. "Keep it. I have also thrown some stones with seals around the village. But I want you to keep one as well, just in case."

Naruto grinned. "I'll keep it with my life Sakura chan!"

Sakura smiled fondly at him. "Thanks."

 _Okay, so maybe there's hope_. Kakashi thought, watching them with a smile himself.

"Will you be coming back?" Shino asked Allison and Calvin. Calvin looked between Allison and Shino, looking confused. Allison ignored Calvin. "Whenever we can." She told Shino. "But for now, I really need to rest. I'll be sleeping in for a few days when I go back. Oh and we still need to report to President Brown what happened."

Shino nodded absently, his gaze directed at Allison. Calvin held back his laugh and discreetly stepped away.

"Alright guys! Let's go!" Sakura said, flipping a stone with a seal on her hand. "Step close to me." She told Allison, Calvin, and Kakashi. "See you later guys!" She told everyone else, waving cheerily.

Allison nudged Calvin. "Hey. So Rose is definitely staying here from now on yes?" She said under her breath so no one but Calvin would hear.

Calvin raised his brows. "Well yeah of course. This was the whole point for her, you know?"

Allison shook her head. "I know that. But didn't Corpo Seco say that his mission was to bring her home? To get her out of the way?"

Calvin's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! You think that the enemies purposely want to take Rose away from the West?"

Allison nodded.

Calvin gulped and looked at Sakura nervously, who was still bidding her farewell.

"What do we do? We can't ask her to go back to the West, not when she finally found her home."

Allison frowned. "Yeah. We just have to wait and see what happens."

Then Sakura turned to them. "Ready?"

"As we'll ever be." Kakashi, Allison, and Calvin said together. Sakura turned to Allison and Calvin curiously, noting the nervous edge in their voices. Allison frantically shook her head while Calvin plastered a big fake smile. Sakura's forehead knotted in worry of the two, but she chose to dismiss it, shrugging at their weirdness.

In a flash, they disappeared.

 **A/N: Hi! So did you guys like the final segments of their reunion? Put up reviews to tell me what you think okay? By the way, after this chapter, I might be focusing on trying to return Sakura's memories of Konoha, so the things about the West might be silent for a while. I also thought of an ingenious way to make Sakura remember so stay tuned okay? Thank you and love lots!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 **A/N: Hi guys! No reviews to answer today. This chapter is probably going to be simple since I'm just going to be integrating Sakura back to Konoha, and then I'm going to try to mold the West and the shinobi world together in the smoothest way possible. I'm updating faster since I'm a wee bit excited because as I said before, I have a major plan for Sakura on how she'll be able to remember most things that happened to her before. I want to write those scenes as soon as I can. For now, these are transition chapters. Bear with me okay? Now, chapter 10!**

 _Previously_

" _Alright guys! Let's go!" Sakura said, flipping a stone with a seal on her hand. "Step close to me." She told Allison, Calvin, and Kakashi. "See you later guys!" She told everyone else, waving cheerily._

 _Allison nudged Calvin. "Hey. So Rose is definitely staying here from now on yes?" She said under her breath so no one but Calvin would hear._

 _Calvin raised his brows. "Well yeah of course. This was the whole point for her, you know?"_

 _Allison shook her head. "I know that. But didn't Corpo Seco say that his mission was to bring her home? To get her out of the way?"_

 _Calvin's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! You think that the enemies purposely want to take Rose away from the West?"_

 _Allison nodded._

 _Calvin gulped and looked at Sakura nervously, who was still bidding her farewell._

" _What do we do? We can't ask her to go back to the West, not when she finally found her home."_

 _Allison frowned. "Yeah. We just have to wait and see what happens."_

 _Then Sakura turned to them. "Ready?"_

" _As we'll ever be." Kakashi, Allison, and Calvin said together. Sakura turned to Allison and Calvin curiously, noting the nervous edge in their voices. Allison frantically shook her head while Calvin plastered a big fake smile. Sakura's forehead knotted in worry of the two, but she chose to dismiss it, shrugging at their weirdness._

 _In a flash, they disappeared._

NOW

Kakashi felt like he just stepped into a fantasy world. Or the world turned topsy turvy. Or he was dreaming. Or his whole life had been a dream and now he was waking up to an impossible reality.

Whatever this was, it was not real.

"Kakashi sensei! Hurry and walk!" Sakura said, tugging hard at his arms. "If you stay still, something is bound to hit you. It's common street laws here. Keep moving."

She pulled his arm so he was shoved forward. And Sakura was right, because the next second, a large flying boulder had zoomed past the spot he was standing on earlier. The boulder then zoomed in another direction, wings sprouting out from its back to stir the direction to where it planned to go.

Kakashi gaped at the rock, his head turned back towards it as Sakura and the others kept ushering him forward.

"That's a creature from the Olmec people." Allison said, looking at Kakashi's paling face. "The Olmec are great sculptors and artists. They usually use rocks and boulders for their artworks. That one is just one of their many creations."

Kakashi turned to look at Allison. "Olmec? But I've never heard of-"

"We are in the city of Salve. We welcome all forms of life here. The Olmec actually live in a distance, west from Salve. But some of them choose to live here. When they do, they bring their artworks with them. That is one of them." Allison said, knowing full well that Kakashi must be frightened of everything he was seeing as of the moment.

Kakashi arrived in a flash with all of them by the gates of Salve city, where Sakura had planted one of her teleportation stones. That technique never failed to amaze Allison and Calvin. There was a seal formula that Sakura can put practically anywhere. And if she did put it somewhere, she can appear at that spot practically at any time she felt like it. As of the moment, she had planted those seal formulas at all the cities of the West, so she can go anywhere whenever she likes.

It had taken a long time before Sakura had finally mastered it. But when she did, it was very useful. Of course, the drawback was that the enemy could study where she placed the seals and predict exactly where she would appear. The enemy had ambushed Sakura a lot ever since they found out about her and this technique. So Sakura had tried to place the seals more inconspicuously in hidden things, and at most, she prevented using it if she didn't have to.

Kakashi had asked her how she managed to learn this technique. Apparently, President Brown had gathered as much information as he could about the shinobi world through the years. He was always interested in it even if he never knew that such world existed. Of course, the information he could get were only probably just really crucial stuff from the shinobi world, but it helped Sakura a lot in trying to develop her own skills and trying to maximize her potentials. Of course, Sakura was still a bit lost because she didn't have the complete picture on how to be a shinobi, having only learned from the clustered scrolls that President Brown was giving her, but she had worked hard on her own to guess most of the things she could do. The Hiraishin no jutsu, or the Flying Thunder God Jutsu, were one of the classic and one of a kind jutsu that President Brown had managed to get his hands on. Sakura was really thrilled when he gave it to her as a reward for one of her successful missions.

Anyway, so Kakashi arrived in a flash by the gates. And as soon as his vision settled in, he was frozen by everything he was seeing. The whole city was in chaos, or at least he thought it was. Everything was moving, in different shapes and forms. People and monsters and animals and things were going around the city in what looked like a normal day for them. There were people with wings, boulders with arms, clay looking substances that have eyes and teeth, dragons and winged creatures that were gliding at the skies. Giants that were stepping around carefully in the city. A big hound that had five sets of eyes. Smoke floating around with hair. And all other strange things that Kakashi thought only existed in dreams. Sure, there were normal people going about, but they looked like they couldn't care less about the unusual things moving with them. At best, it looked like a normal day. Of course, this day couldn't be normal at all for Kakashi.

He was too stunned to even maintain his usual lazy expression. He was also too stunned to even move his legs. Sakura had to keep pulling his arms so he would move. His eyes were glued to everything that they would pass by. Allison pitied him.

Sakura took it better when she first stepped in Salve City. But then again, Sakura lost her memories by then so everything she would see would be new. Kakashi, on the other hand lived all his life around normalcy. This would be too strange for him.

Allison put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "Salve city is the strangest city of the West since we accept everything here. Most cities are only dominated by one tribe. Like the Olmec, or the Mapushe tribe where I came from. Or the Brazen village. Salve welcomes every kind of creature. So I understand how it would be strange for you."

Kakashi turned to her, his frightened eyes softening.

Sakura laughed. "Oh toughen up Kakashi sensei! I already told you what it would be like here, didn't I?"

Kakashi frowned. "Yeah, but I didn't expect it to be this intense."

"Well," Sakura said, tilting her head playfully. "Salve city has everything. So everything is always in chaos here. A variety is not always easy to organize. So you can do anything here, subject to some laws of course." She patted Kakashi's arm that she was holding. "Can I let go now? You wouldn't freeze again, right? If you stop at any point, I guarantee that you would be at the hospital for a week at most."

Kakashi sighed, knowing that she was right as a scorching hot fire just blew past them a few meters ahead. He shook his legs a bit to check if they were now working. "Yeah. I think I can manage now. Thank you, Sakura."

Sakura beamed at him then started skipping ahead.

Then a couple of voices called to them.

"Look, it's Rose! She's back! Hi Miss Rose!"

"Miss Rose, I made you a cake! Come over soon okay?!"

"Guys, it's Rose! She's finally back! The city is a beautiful place again!"

"Miss Rose! Papa told me that you'll be back today, I made you a drawing!"

"Rose! I'm so glad you're back. I need help at my street! You'll come and check right?"

"Rooooose! You idiot girl! I missed you so much that I wouldn't point out that you forgot to attend my brother's birthday!"

A crowd came and circled around Rose. There were an old woman, a small young girl, a bunch of blushing boys, a couple of teenage giggling girls, and a lot more. They were greeting Rose happily, obviously joyed that she was home.

Allison shook her head, amused. Calvin chuckled.

Kakashi regarded this scene with interest. "Well, Sakura seems very popular here."

Calvin turned to him, smiling widely. "Not just here. She's popular at the whole West. Although yeah, she's most popular in her home city. She's a hero, and she's gorgeous. So of course she'll be popular."

"OMG! It's Calvin, girls! He's home too!"

Calvin winked at Allison and Kakashi. "I guess that's my cue. Catch you later." Then he skipped towards the shrieking girls, calling his name.

Allison sighed. "Oh well, let's wait for them to shoo their fans away. Then we can go to President Brown."

Kakashi looked at her curiously. "Do you wish to be given the same interest?"

Allison laughed. "Hell no! For your information, I am also Rose's and Calvin's fan too. It's just that after being with them a lot, it's weird to see people fawning over them like they're some god. After you see them fart and bloody around you, you start seeing them like everyone else. But I am still an avid fan. Sometimes, I still actually find myself fawning over them."

Kakashi nodded and watched Calvin and Rose. They both looked like they were used to it though since they maintained a polite expression, answering everyone with a soft smile on their faces.

Soon, the crowd dispersed and they both returned to Allison and Kakashi.

"Well, let's go." Sakura said as if nothing happened. They walked towards the tallest building at the edge of the city. The three skillfully evaded every disturbance coming their way while pulling Kakashi along so he wouldn't be hit with anything. By the time they reached the building, Kakashi felt breathless.

"Okay, walking here should be an effective exercise strategy. I should tell Lee." Kakashi thought, watching the chaos from a safe spot beside the building.

The three led him towards the room at the top of the building, with everyone being busy, clutching papers and making phone calls down below. Kakashi looked around, amazed at the amount of workload everyone seemed to have. But then again, managing a city of variety must be really complicated and difficult.

They reached the door at the end. Sakura turned to him with an excited smile. "So! You ready?" She asked Kakashi enthusiastically. Calvin stifled his laugh. "Excited much, Rose?"

Sakura shrugged. "Well I'm finally showing President Brown that the shinobi world exists. What's there to not be excited about?"

Calvin nodded. "Yeah. You're right, Gramps is totally gonna freak."

Sakura winked. "Exactly. Let's go Kakashi sensei!" Then she grabbed his arms again and kicked the doors open.

JLISJDLKSAJDOISJFIDSOJFCIDSLJFCISEJHFOIEJDOIEAFJOEID

President Brown destroyed the city.

Well he didn't do that literally. He could have just destroyed the city with the extremely loud scream he screamed when he realized who Kakashi was and where he came from and what his presence in his office meant.

"AHHH! SHUT UP GRAMPS! YOU JUST LITERALLY BLEW OUT MY EAR DRUMS!" Calvin screamed back, grabbing a pillow and shoving it at President Brown's face.

"I CAN'T!" President Brown continued to scream. "THIS IS NOT REAL! I MUST BE DREAMING. HOLY MOTHER OF UMPHHHHHH-"

Calvin had finally successfully stuffed the pillow on Brown's mouth. "ALLISON!" Calvin called, holding the pillow in place. Allison immediately jumped to Brown's back and held his arms together. Sakura had Brown's head in a headlock.

Kakashi looked on in amusement. And he thought that he was shocked.

"UGH! LET GO OF ME YOU LOT!" Brown said, struggling. He bit Calvin's hand, elbowed Allison's stomach, and head butted Sakura's head. The three fell back, yelling "ow".

Brown immediately jumped next to Kakashi and grabbed his face.

"You're real." Brown whispered, thrilled. He started squishing Kakashi's face. Then Brown poked his eye.

"Aw! Okay, stop. That hurts." Kakashi exclaimed, dabbing the eye that Brown poked. The three jumped back to Brown's side and tried to restrain him again.

"Gramps! Come on! Stop! We need to report!" Calvin said, exasperated.

"With all due respect President Brown, you must be frightening our guest." Allison said, worriedly glancing at the winded Kakashi.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Fine, let me handle this." She ran towards President Brown's front and kicked him where it should hurt. Brown's eyes widened.

"AHHHHHHHHH!"

All of them covered their ears again, as President Brown probably destroyed the city again with his terrifying loud scream.

Calvin whimpered. "Rose, did you have to do that? Gramps' lungs must be made of steel or something."

Sakura winced. "Well at least he's down and panting now."

President Brown knelt on the floor in tears. "Rooooose, that was a bit too muuuuch."

Sakura waved her fists at him. "You head butted me!"

Calvin nodded angrily. "And you bit me!"

Allison pouted and turned away with hurt in her eyes. "And you elbowed me."

Kakashi crossed his arms and shook his head. "And you poked me in the eye."

President Brown gaped at them. "But guys, come on! A mythical creature appears in front of me! Of course I'll be surprised!"

Sakura glared at him. "Gee thanks."

"I mean." Brown said, rolling his eyes at Sakura. "That him being here and you introducing him as the head of Konoha, or a shinobi village as you said, means that you probably already found the shinobi world."

Sakura sighed and stuck a pinky finger in her ear. "You're not going to start screaming again are you?"

Brown looked up at his ceiling, thinking. "It depends?"

Calvin shook his head frantically. "Then we're not saying anything!"

Brown gulped and watched the serious faces of everyone around them. He exhaled and motioned for Allison to come to him. Allison walked to him cautiously.

"I don't trust myself not to. Prepare a gag." He said in a serious whisper.

Allison groaned. "Why is everyone here so weird! I need a real life." But she prepared a flexible solid vine for a gag anyway.

Brown then nodded at her gratefully and stood up. He dusted off his suit and cleared his throat, before facing Kakashi with a professional smile, extending his hand in greeting.

Allison, Calvin, and Sakura all rolled their eyes for the attempted seriousness of Brown. Because as soon as he reached Kakashi's hand to shake, he started squealing again. Not as loud as earlier, but still a girly silly squeal which officially made him silly in all accounts.

"God, I can't believe you're real!" Brown said, his wide eyes twinkiling as he squeezed Kakashi's hand.

Kakashi smiled awkwardly, chuckling at the hyped President of the West.

"I wouldn't blame you. I was very surprised too when I first saw your city." He replied, gesturing at the wall made of glass in the office which looked over the whole of Salve. Looking down, you could see a colorful city alive with frantic movements, but so beautiful in its rainbow scenery of differences and harmony.

Brown laughed, scratching his head as if in embarrassment. "Pardon me, dear Hokage. It's just that aside from Rose, I never had any proof of your existence at all. You were all just bedtime stories to me."

Kakashi nodded. "Same."

Brown quickly ushered Kakashi to a chair and ordered his assistants to serve Kakashi. One of them started to massage Kakashi. Another one brought him coffee. Another one brought him a full meal that emanated a sweet and mouthwatering aroma. Another one brought out a large fan and started fanning Kakashi.

Calvin coughed. "Overkill." He said in between his coughs.

Allison looked on, massaging her temples. Sakura sighed and shook her head.

"Er….this is not really necessary." Kakashi said, embarrassed. "I haven't brought anything for you after all."

Brown waved his hand. "Nonsense! This is only fitting for a guest from my fantasies."

Calvin's mouth fell open. "That sounds so wrong."

Brown ignored him. "So! Welcome to Salve city. Or grandly, the West! I'm glad my officers here finally found you."

Sakura cleared her throat. Brown nodded. "And of course, Rose herself found her own home. As expected of you."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Sakura. It's Sakura." Sakura grinned as she held out her hand as if introducing her past self to the President. Brown chuckled, elated at Sakura's obvious joy. He reached her hand to humor her and graciously shook it.

"Sakura." Brown said. "Cherry blossoms huh? Of course." But then he shook his head. "You'll always be Rose to me though."

Sakura shrugged, smiling wide. Brown turned back to Kakashi. "I hope you don't mind, but before anything else, I have to ask my officers to report first."

Calvin pumped a fist in the air and stretched, yawning wide. "FINALLY! Jeez old man, it took you forever to be professional again."

Brown frowned. "I was excited! Come on you guys, surely you can sympathize!"

Allison shook her head. "Oh sure. Except we don't try to kill the source of our excitement nor the people who delivered it."

Brown sighed. "Fine, fine. Okay I'm sorry. I'll treat you to some fancy restaurant later."

The three squealed in delight.

"YES! Now that's more like it!" Calvin said, jumping.

"It worked Rose! You were right!" Allison shrieked with a big grin.

Sakura just laughed, winking at them. Brown shook his head in exasperation.

"Anyway!" Brown continued in a loud voice. "Report."

Sakura cleared her throat and started her report about the criminal they were chasing. Corpo Seco was a fugitive even in his own village, The Brazen village. He stole a valuable from that village, which caused the village to ask assistance from the Salve City for the retrieval of the important artifact. At first, Salve sent several officers, different each time a group of officers assigned would suddenly lose trail and fail the mission. Corpo Seco seemed to be just circling around West, trying to lure out different officers. Until finally, Sakura, Calvin and Allison were sent out. As soon as they gave chase, Corpo Seco finally set out towards the ocean. In the middle of the ocean, Corpo Seco tried to destroy the artifact that he stole. But Sakura and her team were quick enough to retrieve the item and finally keep it safe. But their mission was not only retrieval of the item but also of the information as well. So they continued to chase him for questioning. Until they finally arrived at the shinobi world.

"We were able to destroy Corpo Seco's essence, Sir." Sakura said. "But he would only keep repeating that his mission was to send me home."

Brown rubbed his chin as he stared passively at Sakura. He noticed Allison and Calvin exchange looks. He pretended to not have seen it. "Ironic, that you did find your home while chasing him."

Sakura shrugged. "I know. I feel weird about all of this. But I don't really understand."

Allison and Calvin shuffled uneasily behind her. Brown narrowed his eyes, but he focused his gaze on Sakura. "Okay. Well done officers. I will have this information assessed by my analysis team. As of now, you guys are dismissed."

Calvin jumped up and stretched while Allison yawned.

"Yay. Finally, I can get a real rest. I could sleep for a week." Allison complained, rubbing his eyes.

"Aw guys you wouldn't do that to me right?" Sakura said, putting an arm, each over Calvin's and Allison's shoulder. "You know I would go home after this! And I probably won't see you for some time! Let's hang out for a while!"

Calvin groaned. "Who would miss you?! Go away already!"

Sakura laughed. "You don't mean that! You love me!"

Calvin and Allison pretended to push Sakura away as they all made their way towards the door.

"Sakura, come back in a while okay? This meeting probably won't last too long." Kakashi said, turning his head towards Sakura.

"Oh and if you're gonna eat, tell the restaurant that it's on me! For that treat you forced me to give." Brown piped up.

Sakura raised a thumbs up without looking back. She pushed open the door and dragged her friends out.

As the doors closed, Brown went and got a chocolate from his jar and handed one to Kakashi.

"This is a chocolate injected with a truth serum. I think for our worlds to be able to talk smoothly, we better trust what each other is going to say. I'm going to take one too so it would be fair."

Kakashi nodded, eyeing the chocolate with interest.

"So." Brown said, chewing his chocolate. He swallowed and regarded Kakashi with interest. "The shinobi world of the East eh?"

Kakashi nodded, swallowing his own chocolate. "Yeah. And the world of variety of the great West? I've also only ever read about you in ancient mythological books."

Brown chuckled. "Ahhh. Well we've been hidden from each other for too long. I have only really started researching intensely about the shinobi ever since Rose showed up. I don't think one short meeting would satisfy our information sharing completely. There is so much to know and to learn."

"Yes." Kakashi agreed. "I must also inform the other countries too. We are currently on an allied force."

"That's good. I have only ever united the West too since my term as a President. Makes a nice change from all the silly wars." Brown responded. "This means none of us are in immediate trouble so it would make a smooth negotiation between us."

Kakashi raised a questioning brow. "Is that true? I think I noticed yours, Calvin's, and Allison's troubled expressions when mentioning about what Corpo Seco's purpose was."

Brown sighed. "Theories. But of course, we never really know. We suspect that Corpo Seco wanted to send Rose away so we would lack the protection of a lost bloodline."

Kakashi tilted his head. "A lost bloodline?"

This time, Brown was the one to raise his brows high. "I knew it. You were depriving Rose!" Kakashi frowned in confusion, not really understanding what Brown meant. Brown stood up and motioned for Kakashi to follow him. Brown led him to a room filled with portraits of different people and creatures. The last portrait at the end of the hall was of Sakura's.

"Okay, I only created this room after meeting Rose. And also after I got the hint that my son might be collecting the lost bloodlines to create an army against me. This is a gallery of all the people who possess the lost bloodline." Brown said. "There are different kinds of species and creatures, as you evidently see in our world. In the stories, for each creature, there will always be one who would achieve the maximum potential of his/her kind. There will be one who would inherit the original powers of the origin of their kind. It is passed down by blood of course. And only one out of 3 or more generations would pop out. But even then, they are usually lost and not discovered. It is said that these people are cursed with events in their life that would suppress their powers. So usually, they would never even know that they have such capacity. In Rose's situation, we believe that it is because she inherited the role of supporter of that sister, just as the other two of your Shinobi God's sons inherited the role of determination and hatred."

Kakashi turned to Brown with a wide eye. "You mean to say, that Sakura is the lost bloodline of the shinobi. You're trying to tell me that Sakura mastered the potential of our kind? She inherited Kaguya's powers. Is that it?"

Brown nodded. "And she never knew, because if my guess is right, she would always be the fallback of the descendants of the two brothers?"

Kakashi was still shell shocked as he realized that it all made sense. "Sasuke and Naruto, yes. They are her teammates."

Brown gasped. "Really?! So my theory is right?!"

Kakashi blinked at Brown. "Wait, so you're not sure?"

Brown shrugged. "These are all guesses. After all, you should actually know more about shinobi than me."

Kakashi scratched his head. "Well, it's true. All of Sakura's life was devoted to aiding Sasuke and Naruto. It is also true that Indra and Asura indeed have a sister, although nobody really mentions her because she doesn't matter. But Sakura just never appealed to me as someone who would have the capability to do what you think she can do."

Brown's mouth fell open. "Are you serious? Rose is a hero in our world. In our world, not just in Salve. And it's rare you find someone who we all agree as our hero. And a stranger to boot. Rose is our ultimate protection from my own son, Lennon. That's why I even think that Lennon purposely sought the shinobi world himself so he can get Rose out of the way."

Kakashi cleared his throat. "But Sakura doesn't even have an elemental nature."

Brown rolled his eyes. "Maybe because nobody bothered to check. And I did, guess what happened to the paper?"

Kakashi waited for him to answer. "It turned gold." Brown said, looking like he was still surprised after all these years. Kakashi's mouth fell open.

"That's impossible." Kakashi exclaimed. Brown shrugged. "I thought so too. But there you go. Anyway, I won't blame you guys since like I said, I think Rose is cursed to support. It's nobody's fault. But then you'll see it for yourself when the time comes."

"When the time comes?"

"Yeah. Because I assume you're gonna put Rose in her original stead of supporting role before she left, and she'll willingly accept it. So it might probably be some time before she can use her offensive powers again, or showcase it. Rose is a very humble girl. She wouldn't use it if she didn't need to."

Kakashi remained passive, deep in thought.

"But that's not the point," Brown continued, seeing that Kakashi wouldn't react. "My point is that Rose is a vital part of our force. I understand that she needs to go home where she really belonged. But we especially couldn't lose her now. Especially, since if our theories are right, then a war is starting on our end. We would need Rose."

"Oh!" Kakashi exclaimed, realizing what Brown was saying. "Of course. We would willingly allow Sakura to go here from time to time. She could go and do missions here too, subject to my approval of course. But we wouldn't be too strict about this. After all, Sakura is more Rose than she is Sakura right now. In her head, you guys are a bigger part of her than we are."

Brown nodded. "Oh don't worry! As a matter of fact, I insist that she will visit less as long as her memories aren't recovered yet. Her goal and focus right now is to remember. I would only call on her in emergencies. Besides, her teleportation technique would come in handy."

Kakashi chuckled. "Yes. I still can't believe she can do that."

Brown tilted his head in amusement. "Lost bloodline, dear Hokage. Trust me. More than that, we can continue sending each other people and messages through the teleportation seals even without Sakura."

Kakashi's forehead crumpled in confusion. "Huh? But it would need Sakura's chakra and all-"

"Yeah and Rose had added another line in the seal which serves as a bag of conserved chakra. She would conserve her own chakra there so anyone who knew the seal and could answer the underlying questions of the seal can use it." Brown said, beaming at Kakashi's shocked expression. "Wow you underestimate Rose too much."

"Wow." Kakashi said, speechless. "If that's the case, then I can effectively summon the other Kages from our allied force and have meetings with you and your countries here whenever."

Brown nodded. "Yes. This will solve what I said earlier about one short meeting is not enough for us to create negotiations. We can meet as easily as we can with that jutsu. But as of now, I want you to not involve Rose as much as possible while she's not retrieving her memories yet. We'll call her if we need her."

Kakashi nodded in agreement. "Okay. You really do care about Sakura, to think about her condition first before your country's safety."

Brown smiled fondly. "Rose has helped us so many times, we can only ever repay her by helping her achieve what she always yearned for, her home and her past."

And with that, the two leaders went back to the office and left the gallery of the lost bloodlines. They discussed political, economic and other matters that involve arrangements between their countries. Soon they were just sharing stories about each other's world as they waited for Sakura and her friends to return.

AIOJSILJIODJSIODJAWIODUJOISAJDISF

"Rose!" A loud startling voice made Allison, Sakura and Calvin jump from their tables. They were currently at a pasta place they loved to eat in whenever they return home from a mission.

A boy with red hair and chinky eyes sat down next to Sakura and enveloped her in a hug. Calvin immediately kicked the man out of the way.

"Ow! Calvin! Why'd you do that?!" The boy replied, rubbing the shoulder which Calvin kicked. Calvin glared at the guy and sat closer to Sakura. "Hands off Ian. You know why."

Ian rolled his eyes. "Well yeah Calvin. But you don't get to do that today. I heard Rose is leaving!" Ian wailed and looked at Sakura with teary eyes. Sakura nodded and smiled at Ian.

"Yes. I found the shinobi world! I'm going hoooome." Sakura said enthusiastically. Ian's tears finally ran down his cheeks. "B-But you can't leave us Rose! We need you at the force!"

Sakura laughed, pinching Ian's cheeks. "You can handle it Ian. You guys are awesome even without me."

"It won't be the same without you." A high stern voice suddenly said. A bald girl with deep dark eyes sat at their table.

Sakura pretended to be shocked. "Is that right Jenni? Did you just tell me you need me?"

Jenni sighed. "I don't hate you Rose. I was just….you know, James…"

Calvin slammed his fist on the table. "Jenni stop that. You don't have a chance on James, not now not ever."

Jenni glared at Calvin. "Because of Rose? I believe you foolishly claimed her didn't you Calvin? That means James is free."

Calvin bit his lip, looking like he will murder Jenni any second now. Sakura rubbed her temples.

"Guys come on, stop that. James is currently an avenger who's probably f*cking God knows who somewhere else."

Calvin and Jenni turned to her with murderous eyes.

"Er…. I don't mean it like that." Sakura said, paling.

"HAHAHA Give her a break. She's about to leave. She should have passes on everything as of now." A guy with a long blue hair that reaches his knees said. Sakura raised a fist and gave the guy a fist bump.

"Thanks Archer." Sakura muttered, shaking her head.

Archer winked. "Any time sweetie. I still can't believe you finally found the shinobi world. Do you know how long it took any of us to research and come up with dead ends?"

"Yeah!" A girl with a pixie cut purple hair said, jumping on the seat next to Archer. "And man are we assigned to that mission over and over. And we never found it."

"Coz you're losers, Archer and Rain!" Sakura exclaimed loudly. They clapped a hand to her mouth then tackled her to the ground and wrestled her. Sakura laughed gleefully, kicking and punching back at them.

"And I thought when you leave, you would come back home a grown woman already." A deep quiet voice silenced them all. Sakura looked up to see startling orange eyes. But she only smirked.

"Youth is what makes the pretty people, Blain." She said playfully. Blain only raised his brows. "Yes, and is that all you are Rose? A pretty face?"

Jenni laughed out loud. Calvin stared daggers at Jenni, who immediately stopped laughing to finish their death stare.

Sakura sighed. "I'll miss you too Blain." She said, knowing that Blain only becomes harsh when he was worried. Blain frowned, but he reached over to hug her. "Take care of yourself."

Sakura nodded. Jenni scowled at her. "Everyone Rose, really?" Jenni then stood up to walk away. But before she was totally out the door, she threw something at Rose. "There." She simply said then walked out. Sakura looked at what she caught, and saw a box of her favorite candies. Sakura smiled. Calvin snatched it away from her. "She probably poisoned it. Throw it away."

Sakura shook her head and took it back. "Come on Cal, can you stop your weird rivalry with her? And why do you guys like to involve me? It's not like I'm actually associated or romantically involved with anyone."

Calvin shrugged. "She just can't accept that she will totally lose if it was me."

Sakura shook her head in exasperation. Allison cleared her throat. "Guys, I think we need to go back. My coin communicator lit up. That means Pres Brown is calling us already."

Sakura frowned. "I haven't finished my pasta yet."

Calvin rolled his eyes. "Oh no you don't Rose! You're gonna bail again. Come on, let's go and force her back." Archer and Rain cheered as they both hoisted Sakura up on their arms while Sakura struggled. Ian played along and helped them lift her up. Sakura screamed and yelped, but they only held tighter, which caused Sakura to laugh out loud. Soon, the rest of the police force noticed them and helped along, carrying Sakura in their arms towards the office. The people around the city saw them and cheered, watching Sakura get delivered to the President's office.

The truth is, the news already spread that Sakura would soon be leaving Salve. So everyone actually wanted to give her a grand farewell. But knowing Sakura, there's no better farewell than playing around with her, and so they will, even for the last time. The police force kept tickling Sakura which made her laugh so hard that it echoed around the city. The people laughed with her, getting carried away with her infectious laugh. But soon, most of them are just crying, especially since Sakura was so near the President's office now. When the force put Sakura down so she can finally walk to the office, Sakura waved a big wave of her arms to say goodbye, smiling widely, the way she always did even back then, when the people were still wary of her. When she turned away, everyone started singing _The stars of the universe_ , her favorite song that she would always sing whenever she walked around town. It was a song she actually made for herself, it was a song that would always inspire her and always made her stronger. It was beautiful now that everyone was singing it for her, because it only proved that everyone listened to her and cared enough to know her song. And now they sang it for her, perhaps in the hopes that she would never forget them. And she wouldn't. Of course. It was not really farewell. She could always visit. But everyone knew that it wouldn't be the same anymore. She would officially be a guest, and somewhere else would be her home. It had always been like that. But for a time, the people allowed themselves to believe that she belonged there. Sakura was such a vibrant person that anyone would be proud to say that she was one of them.

But deep in their hearts, they knew that whatever happened now, there would always be a part of Sakura which did belong to the West. That was why she had another name, Rose. Because while she is Sakura, she was also Rose.

Sakura knew this too. So with tears in her eyes, she sang with them the last parts of the song. As the final notes were sung, she blew out a kiss for everyone and finally came in the door.

IOSDFISDJLFJSKFDSJFKDSHFKJDSHFLKDSJKFJDSLKJF

Sakura sobbed as she walked towards Brown and Kakashi.

"I take it our people gave you their farewell." Brown said, smiling warmly. Sakura nodded, wiping the tears. "They sang the Stars of the Universe for me."

Brown nodded. "It wouldn't surprise me that they knew the song. You always sang it."

Sakura shook her head. "I didn't know that anyone paid attention."

"But they do. You are special to us Rose. Don't forget that."

Sakura nodded, sniffing. Then Calvin and Allison barged in the door.

"Man, I thought you left already! Without even saying goodbye to us!" Calvin said, crossing his arms and scrunching his face. But you could see his lips trembling, as if he was trying to hold back his tears.

"Yeah! And I thought we were friends!" Allison said, turning away with a roll of her eyes.

Sakura laughed with her tear stained croak and jumped towards the two. She engulfed the two in a tight hug and rubbed her palm on their hairs, messing it up.

"I love you both. So much. Take care of everyone for me okay?"

Calvin and Allison finally burst into tears and buried their faces on Sakura's neck. They nodded weakly as they sobbed. "Of course! What do you think we'd do here without you?! Crumble up and die?!" Calvin said as he sobbed, lightly hitting Sakura's back in his hug.

Sakura giggled. "That's my man." She said, squeezing him tighter. Calvin shook his head and sobbed harder, drenching Sakura's neck with his tears. "R-Rose….Y-Your P-Promise…."

Sakura nodded. "It's a promise of a lifetime. What did I tell you, right? I will do it, don't worry."

Calvin nodded, feeling reassured. He let go and stepped back, wiping his face and bowing.

Allison clung to Sakura, crying quietly. Sakura kissed her head. "Stay strong Al. You are beautiful and awesome, you are the same level as us. That's why we're on the same group. You are not below us. You are as great and amazing." Allison trembled and hugged her tighter. Sakura gasped but she laughed. "And take care of Cal for me. You know how he gets."

"I heard that."

"I intended you to, you moron."

"HEY! Who are you calling moron?! Just because you're leaving doesn't mean-"

"That I'm not beautiful anymore? Coz I'll always be perfect and hot?"

"HAHA You're such a joker Ro-"

Then Sakura jumped towards Calvin and hugged him again. "Ugh. I'm going to miss you so much. Visit me as often as you can okay?"

Calvin nodded, his tears dangerously threatening to fall again. "Just remember to fill the chakra bags on the seal okay?"

"Always." Sakura said. "I love you Cal."

"I love you too Rose."

Allison sighed. "I love you Allison." She told herself.

Sakura and Calvin laughed as they included Allison again in their hug.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Okay Sakura. Time to go?"

Sakura sighed and reluctantly let go of her friends. "I'll catch you whenever guys!" She told them in a forcefully cheery voice.

She put out her rock with the teleportation seal and stepped towards Kakashi.

Brown walked to Sakura and patted her head. "No need to say farewell to me. You'll be seeing me a lot anyway."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Oh why youuuuu."

Brown laughed and winked at Sakura. Sakura smirked.

She faced Kakashi and flipped the stone. "Ready?" She asked him.

"As I'll ever be." Kakashi said with a smile. And with a final wave, they disappeared.

 **A/N: Okay so I was only able to finish the merge between the West and the East! The next chapter I would finally start the retrieval of Sakura's memories. So what did you guys think? Review for improvements or recommendations okay?**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

 **A/N: Hi! Oh my gosh! I haven't updated for some time now! I'm sorry, the finals week just ended as of tonight. And I really focused a lot on my school so I admit that I kinda neglected this story for some time. But hey, I'm back! I'm gonna continue writing and enjoying the Naruto world again! I have so many plans for this story that I think I'm gonna burst.**

 **I think I'm going to go back and edit some of the farewell scenes in chapter 10. But as of now, I'm really just laying out the story. Then when I have more time, I'll edit some more. Thank you for those who continue to appreciate the story! There was one who thought Kakashi and Brown were adorable. That's good because I did intend them to be that! So thank you** **I'm happy to work harder for you guys and of course, for myself. XD**

 **Anyhoos, the next chapters would be about Sakura and Konoha, and her long road to remembering them. It will be some time again before she goes back to the West. So brace yourselves! Leggo chappie 11!**

"Thank you Sakura san!" A shivering woman said, bowing before Sakura with tear stained cheeks. She sobbed softly as she rubbed the back of the baby in her arms to stop the little one from crying. "We owe you our life. My husband means everything to me and our baby!"

Sakura smiled kindly and wiped the sweat from her brows. "It was no problem at all. And it wasn't just me! It was the teamwork of me and the nurses! Hey guys, come on over!" Sakura turned and waved to the nurses who worked 10 hours with her inside the operating room. The nurses were surprised to be called, but they came with a shy smile on their faces. The woman gushed over all of them and offered them homemade cookies, inviting them for a humble meal at her home.

Tsunade grinned at the sight. Sakura really was such a sweet girl. Usually, it was always just the doctor who get the credit in these operations. And it was normal too if the doctor claimed that achievement. After all, they really were the ones who lead these operations. But not Sakura, evidently. She recognized everyone's hard work and shared the spotlight with all of them. That was why Sakura progressed so fast in the hospital. Everyone loved her and adored her because of her lively and sweet attitude. Everyone was willing to extend a helping hand.

Sakura had been staying at Konoha for one month now. Of course, Tsunade immediately suggested that Sakura should work at the hospital since the old Sakura had prided herself with being a medic nin, and even developed herself to be at par with Tsunade. Even this new Sakura said that the first thing she ever remembered was being a medic nin. Tsunade knew that having Sakura work at the hospital is the best way to regain her memories.

At first, Sakura was just working small jobs; assisting nurses, cleaning up in the operating rooms, observing people work around. But she immediately got the hang of things. One, because everyone really helped her, nurses teaching her about the basics, and doctors bringing her along for complicated procedures. But Second, Sakura's memories were triggered on her own. All the things they were doing at the hospital were things that the old Sakura already knew by heart. The new Sakura was realizing that fast. Her body would immediately just move as if she knew what to do. But more than that, she actually suddenly remembered what to do. All her past knowledge of being a medic just came back to her after working for some time in the hospital.

Because her expertise really surpass everyone at the hospital, after just mere 3 weeks of staying there, she was immediately promoted to being a doctor. Of course, the old Sakura was actually a doctor who is the head of a department she herself created; Konoha Children Mental Health Clinic, a department that specifically cared and focused on children with traumatic experiences, especially those who had to go through war at such a young age. That department was now handled by Ino ever since Sakura left the village. But that department had always been Sakura's own legacy.

But as of the moment, they were taking things slow due to her lost memories. But it seemed that her skills as a medic was coming back to her fast anyway, thus the fast promotion as well.

Sakura was now working as a doctor for a week now, and she had already undergone 5 successful operations that lasted for long hours. Tsunade couldn't help but grin at her gifted and hardworking student.

"Sakura." Tsunade called her, waving a hand to get her attention. Sakura turned to her and flashed her a big smile. She excused herself from the gushing woman and her nurses and walked towards Tsunade.

"Hi Shishou!" Sakura said, bowing to her mentor. "Is there another operation that needs to be handled?" Sakura looked at the files that Tsunade was holding in her arms. Tsunade laughed and shook her head.

"Seriously Sakura, you just finished a 10 hour operation. You want more?!" Tsunade said, smirking at her student.

Sakura frowned. "Well I'd be lying if I said I'm not tired. I really am. But I can always just absorb energy if there's another emergency. Life is worth exhaustion."

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "Yes, Sakura. You're a hero. Blah blah. But you have to know your limits. Besides, you're straying away from your purpose in staying in Konoha."

Sakura raised her brows, confused. Tsunade sighed. "You're supposed to be regaining your memories."

Sakura scratched her head. "Oh! Yeah. But I am doing that! I am remembering how to be a medic nin!"

"Yes, and I think you've done enough in that department. You've been working so hard at the hospital that you haven't really met your friends for some time." Tsunade said, frowning at her.

Sakura blinked. "But of course I wouldn't be meeting my friends. I have to stay in Konoha until I remember my memories."

Tsunade shook her head in exasperation. "No! I don't mean your friends at the West! I mean your friends here in Konoha!"

"Oh! Right!" Sakura laughed. "You're right. I don't see much of them now. But I thought we'll take things slowly."

Tsunade nodded. "And we are. That's why we started with your medic nin identity. But now you should reach out to your friends. Take a few days off from the hospital. Focus on going around Konoha. Don't pressure yourself though. Just….go around and appreciate things. I'd say it's better to do that after having some sake."

Sakura giggled and shook her head. She gazed up at her mentor, then flashes of memory flooded her head.

" _I've heard from Kakashi that you're intelligent and that you have a strong spirit. Haruno Sakura, alright! From now on, I won't go easy on you!"_

 _Sakura felt excited and thrilled, albeit a little scared as she faced her new mentor, Tsunade, one of the Legendary Sannin._

" _O-Ok!" She said, enthusiastic but a little shy and nervous._

 _Then the scene changed._

" _Wrong! The medical ninja should never be hit by the enemy's attacks. When you face an opponent's attack, evasion is the first priority."_

 _Sakura blinked at Tsunade, shocked and confused. "But why?"_

 _Tsunade sighed. "If the medical ninja were to die, who's there to treat the team members. Now I'm going to go all out and attack you. The training is to avoid all my attacks. I will not hold back."_

 _Then Tsunade rushed towards her, eyes blazing, and fists ready._

 _The scene changed again._

" _If we use byakugou together, we can probably summon 1/10 of katsuya's main body from the shikkotsu forest!" Tsunade turned to Sakura, beaming. "Let's go Sakura!" She exclaimed, determinedly. "Let's make Katsuyu into the alliance's foothold! Just by standing on her they will be able to recover."_

 _Sakura nodded at Tsunade. "YES!" She was thrilled to be able to work side by side with her mentor, as if they were finally equals. But more than that, working together, they'd be able to save and heal everyone._

 _So together, they slammed their hands to the ground and yelled, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"_

 _The scene changed again._

 _Tsunade stood over Sakura with a proud smile on her face. She put a hand on her head and patted it affectionately._

" _You did well." She told Sakura, her pride heard from her voice as she looked at the student who grew to a strong capable woman, from that skinny and clumsy girl she first met. Sakura looked up at her sensei, and felt tears welling up her eyes, but immediately held it._

 _Arigatou sensei, she thought._

Then Sakura snapped out of her trip down the memory lane. Sakura blinked, watching Tsunade who was still chuckling from her sake suggestion. Sakura smiled. Her memories had been coming back little by little, through random flashes of memories, as if the gates from her memory block were finally opening. From the long time she spent at the hospital, a lot of the flashes she got were from medic practices and of course, her sensei, Tsunade. She remembered that her sensei was a drunkard who liked to gamble, but always loses. Tsunade was also really hot tempered and she had an extremely heavy fist. But beneath all that, Tsunade was one of the most considerate and compassionate person you would ever meet.

Sakura was happy that her past self was able to get a person like Tsunade to teach her. In her new life, President Brown would really just give her random scrolls about being a shinobi, and then she'd have to learn it herself. Nobody taught her. Nobody guided her. It was all her. She was happy to know that she was indeed taken care of in Konoha, and that she had a wonderful teacher.

"Okay shishou. I guess I'll be resting for the next days. Mmmm…but I won't take the sake suggestion. Alcohol and I don't go very well together."

Tsunade laughed. "Oh well. You got everything from me, and you even surpassed me at some levels. But you just can't inherit the drunkard-ness and the gambling from me."

Sakura giggled. "I'll take that as a compliment?"

"Nope." Tsunade shook her head. "You're missing the best things in life. You should be insulted."

Sakura shook her head. She threw one last sweet smile at Tsunade and walked back to the nurses and the woman. The nurses rushed towards her, giggling at something, while the woman laughed along, scratching her head as if embarrassed about something.

Tsunade shrugged, turning away and walking to her office. Sakura would be alright. Actually, Sakura was so much better now. There was something about the Sakura who came back that seemed so much stronger. She was more carefree. The fire in her eyes was hotter. She was more confident and she was so much more open. If anything, it seemed like losing her memories had been for the best. Of course, her little adventure had to end at some time. It was time for her to come home and embrace everything that her life was, and combine it with what her life is now.

 _The next day._

Sakura yawned and stretched as she inhaled the morning air of Konoha. It was just 6 am so it was still quiet. She was used to waking up early because of her early shifts at the hospital. But now, she wasn't really sure what to do. Her goal was to regain memories. But that won't come out just because she wanted it to. So she would just relax and let it all come.

She looked around her, appreciating the peaceful aura. It was one of the things she just loved about Konoha. Everything was just in place. It wasn't as grand and vibrant like the West, but it was happy all the same with all the simple things around. You would just feel the happiness from everyone, and their trust and acceptance with each other. It was like everyone here was friends and family.

Speaking of friends, Sakura knew she would find her favorite friend at a certain place. With a big excited smile on her face, she started running towards Ichiraku.

SDJLSKDJLSKDLSKD:LSKDSDSDNSDNKSJDKSJDL

"NARUTO!" A high pitched girl's voice screamed. Naruto choked on his ramen in surprise.

"S-Sakura chan! Don't sneak up and yell on my ear like that!" Naruto complained, thumping a hand on his chest exasperatedly.

Sakura giggled. "Well I'm just excited to see you! I haven't seen you in a while." She winked at Teuchi, the owner of Ichiraku, the best ramen place in Konoha. Teuchi smiled warmly at Sakura.

Naruto beamed at Sakura in response and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Awww so you missed me?"

Sakura nodded enthusiastically and sat beside Naruto. "I totally do!"

Naruto chuckled and shook his head. The old Sakura would have hit him on the head for suggesting that she missed him. This new Sakura was really affectionate and honest. Since Sakura came back to Konoha, Naruto would usually come to her at the hospital just after her shift ends and invite her to eat at Ichiraku. He really missed having Sakura around, it was five long years after all. And unexpectedly, she would always accept his invitations happily. The old Sakura before cared for Naruto all the same, but she would always try to put him in place, drawing the line between a date and just hanging around. But now, Sakura would hug him, gush at him, play around with him, and do everything else sweetly. Weirdly, Naruto could clearly feel that all of it was brotherly. But he didn't feel that because she had hit him for suggesting otherwise. He felt that because Sakura adored him like a younger brother she never had.

Honestly, Naruto appreciated her like this. She seemed so much happier, worry-less and carefree, not bothering about what anyone thought of her.

Sakura turned to Teuchi and chatted with the old man. Ayame came out and saw Sakura, squealing in delight. Sakura squealed too and raised a high five to Ayame.

That was another thing. People just adored her. She was really kind, approachable, and sweet. She looked at everyone as if they were all her friends. Everyone in the village already knew Sakura of course. But this new version of her made everyone closer to her, which was a delight because Sakura herself told him that she was nervous that she might not get accepted because of her lost memories. Her endearing kindness and friendliness made everyone love her, which made it easier for her to adjust to her "new" home.

"I think I'll have the Naruto Ramen!" Sakura said, her eyes widening as she stared at the menu.

Ayame giggled. "Good one. Have you never seen that on the menu before? You usually come here with Naruto ever since you came back."

Sakura shook her head. "I didn't notice it. Wow Naruto, a ramen is named after you!"

Naruto shrugged, trying to look cool. "Well, I'm just so popular I can't help it."

Sakura laughed and nudged him playfully. "Okay okay. But you'll always be just a bonehead to me."

Naruto pouted. "Sakura chaaaan." Naruto complained, scratching his head. Laughing, Teuchi and Ayame started making Sakura's order. Naruto turned to his bowl and started digging on his 6th bowl of ramen.

Sakura eyed the empty bowls. "Jeez Naruto, aren't you going to explode with that? And it's so early in the morning!"

Naruto shrugged. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" He exclaimed, shoving more food in his mouth.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "But you eat like this on our dinners too!"

"Well the food you ate must have already burned throughout the day, so we have to replace it at night." Naruto reasoned.

Sakura gaped at him. "That is so not how it works! See, you're really such a bonehead."

Naruto chuckled. "Yeah but you love me."

Sakura grinned at him and threw her arms around him. "I do!"

Naruto sighed. He could get used to Sakura being like this. Then suddenly, Ayame hit him on the head.

"Hey Naruto, stop being touchy touchy with Sakura!"

Naruto looked at her incredulously. "But she was the one hugging me!"

Ayame put her hands on her waist and raised an eyebrow. "Well you must have convinced her to hug you. Pervert."

Naruto lightly pushed Sakura away and raised his arms in exasperation. "There! Happy?! Now let me eat in peace!"

Sakura giggled, as Ayame winked at her and gave Sakura her order. "There you go. Don't let Naruto get to you."

Sakura nodded. "I won't!"

Naruto's head snapped up. "Hey!"

Sakura nudged Naruto and smiled. "Relax. We were just kidding."

"Yeah. We totally were." Ayame said, but she threw Naruto a warning glance before turning away.

Naruto sighed. "Anyway, Sakura chan, how's your first week being a doctor?" Naruto knew that Sakura was promoted to being a doctor just a week ago as Sakura told him excitedly during one of their dinners.

Sakura's eyes gleamed happily. "It was fun and exciting. Although it was also really difficult and challenging. Tsunade sama assigned me to some pretty heavy and complicated operations."

Naruto stared at her, surprised. "Really? But it's just your first week!"

Sakura chewed on her food with a worried expression. "I know! Everything was really complex and also really overwhelming."

Naruto looked up thoughtfully. "I think it's because Granny Tsunade wants you to remember how to be a medic nin fast. After all, the old Sakura I knew was seriously an expert. I'd say that she actually surpassed Tsunade already."

Sakura nodded. "Yeah. I can feel how comfortable I am working around the hospital. And I'm really not nervous at all when I'm performing my operations. I guess my body knew that I've done all of it before. But more than that, I can actually remember what to do."

Naruto smiled at her. "I guess your memories really are coming back huh?"

Naruto beamed at her then he dug in to his food again. Sakura looked at Naruto and decided that he was really such a slob, although in a comedic way.

Then suddenly, images flashed through her head again. But this time, the scenarios were blurring too fast.

" _Naruto….you're so annoying!"_

" _You are so embarrassing Naruto!"_

" _SHUT UP! YOU'RE SO NOISY!"_

" _You're such an idiot Naruto!"_

" _Go out of the way! Why are you sitting next to my-"_

Then she snapped out of it. Sakura shook her head and stared at Naruto. She looked at him wide eyed and tried to remember again. Naruto noticed her doing that, so he stopped gulping down food and looked at her.

"Remembered something?" Naruto asked curiously. These days, Sakura will just suddenly have random flashbacks. It was nice because it meant that she was making progress. But she was staring at him looking horrified at the moment.

"What's wrong?" He said, moving closer to her for closer inspection. Nothing seemed out of place with her, except her expression. She bit her lip, looking confused.

"Mmmmm…." She began, looking nervous. "Naruto, did I hate you before?"

Naruto paused, immediately guessing what she remembered, then threw his head back in laughter. Naruto's laugh was so contagious that she couldn't help but smile back.

Naruto wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Sakura chan, that's what you're worried about?! That I might be your enemy or something?!"

Sakura shook her head. "It just seemed so out of place. You are so funny and nice, and I feel really attached with you. So I don't know any reason why I would hate you!"

Naruto smiled at her sweetness. "Awwww Sakura chan!"

Sakura blushed and smacked Naruto on the head. _Now there's the Sakura chan I know!_ Naruto thought to himself, grinning at her.

But he cleared his throat and answered her. "We're like this Sakura." Naruto intertwined his fingers. "You're like the sister I never had. Just like how I'm the brother you never had. We're siblings at heart. Although I do admit that you were pretty mean when we were kids. But I was also really childish when we were kids. When we were older, you would still be pretty violent with me. But not because you hate me. You were pretty hot headed. You hit everyone you feel annoyed to. But you usually like to hit me because I usually annoy you."

Sakura thought about that, piecing together the new memories she had and Naruto's assessment of it.

"You know Naruto." She started, still looking up as thoughts ran around her head. "I remember a lot of things about you."

Naruto looked up from his meal again and stared at her.

Without looking at him, Sakura continued on. "I remember feeling angry because you were with me on team 7. I was partly happy but I don't remember why I was happy. I just remember why I'm angry." Sakura's forehead wrinkled as she thought about it. Naruto tried not to laugh. Of course, he knew she was partly happy because of Sasuke. He can't believe Sakura remembered him first than the Teme.

"I remember thinking you were a loser. Because you were always really silly. I remember feeling super annoyed." She frowned at that, disapproving of her former self's thoughts. "I remember always comparing you to….uhmmm…to….. ugh I can't remember that part! Anyway, I also remember you liking me. Like a lot. When we were young, you would always hound me for a date. Even when we were already teenagers, you would still do that. You would always compliment me and encourage me, following me around and blushing. But then you would always really care for me as well. You don't want me to feel sad so you would compliment me everytime…mmm….someone insults me? You always made me feel strong even when I knew I was not. I remember you saving me, for so many times I couldn't even keep count. Even if it was at the expense of your life, you would always put me first. I remember you made me a promise. I don't remember what that promise is but I remember feeling desperate. I remember that deep longing I had for that….promise, and it took a long time, but I remember feeling really happy after you've done it. And…."

She threw Naruto a wary look. "I remember confessing to you."

There were a few beats of silence. Then Naruto laughed loudly again.

Sakura punched him this time. "Stop laughing! I'm trying to remember here!"

Naruto chuckled, not minding the new bruise that would form because of her punch. "Look, those parts you don't remember are really important. And I think I can't just outright tell you what it's about. You have to remember that on your own."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "How is that related to my confession?!"

Naruto shook his head in amusement. "It's really super related. You confessed to me because of that…memory you forgot. Not because you actually liked me, but don't worry. I rejected you."

Naruto now had 2 bumps on the head.

Naruto frowned, rubbing at the bumps that Sakura punched. "But Sakura, you remember so much about me. No pun intended. Just curious."

Sakura smiled at him and took his hands away from the bumps. "Lean closer. I'll heal them."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What was the point of hitting me if you'll heal me anyway." He murmured. Sakura lifted his chin up and threw him a creepy smile. "What was that?!"

Naruto gulped, shaking. "N-Nothing…" _Man, this is really Sakura after all!_ Naruto thought, letting her heal his bumps.

Sakura sighed. "We've been to dinner for so many nights and we hang out a lot, so I do remember a lot about you. I really do care for you Naruto. I can feel how important you are to me."

Naruto didn't say anything to that. Honest and sweet Sakura still surprises him sometimes. After that, they just randomly chatter until Sakura finishes her bown and Naruto finished with her 8th.

As they were heading out, Sakura turned to Naruto and said. "So what were you doing up so early by the way?"

Naruto shrugged. "I'm going to meet the Teme today. We're gonna run through some information that Kakashi told us to look on to. And then maybe we'll spar later."

Sakura raised her brows in curiosity. "You mean Sasuke?"

"Yeah. The great Teme." Naruto said, smirking.

Sakura nodded politely. "Ahh."

Naruto looked at Sakura curiously. Honestly, he expected Sakura to remember Sasuke first. After all, Sakura even immediately crushed on Sasuke when she came back from the West. But now…..she just looked disinterested.

"Are you and Sasuke still fighting?" Naruto asked, worrying. He'd been trying to assemble team 7 again for some time now. If they were fighting, it would be complicated. Sakura looked at him in surprise.

"What? No. We've never really fought. He's just grumpy but that's fine." Sakura said, shrugging. "He's kinda strange though. I had gloomy guys in my life before but Sasuke's just weird. James for example is hostile and uncaring, but he's always vocal about it. He's not silent. He speaks a lot but what he says are usually really mean. Sasuke is also a tinge mean. But he's mostly just quiet. Emo. Gloomy. Dark. Isolated. I dunno."

Naruto watched Sakura, looking confused. "You think…Sasuke's weird?"

Sakura pouted. "I know he's your bestfriend and that he was our teammie before. But you gotta admit that he really is one of a kind, for lack of a better term. Synonymously, I just wanted to say he's weird."

Naruto gaped at her. Sakura really meant that. Naruto scratched his head uneasily. "You…..don't remember Sasuke at all, do you?"

Sakura sighed and shook her head. "No. Not one bit. There's nothing at all. I mean for the others, I get glimpses or familiar feelings. But with Sasuke, I don't remember anything. I figured maybe because we're not close even then."

Naruto scoffed incredulously. "Who told you that you guys aren't close?! Are you insane?"

Sakura looked at Naruto, surprised at his outburst. "So we were close? But he doesn't talk to me at all right now. I just ignore him because he ignores me! So I thought maybe we weren't really friends even!"

Naruto shook his head. "Sakura chan, don't go jumping into conclusions like that. This is a big deal! Sasuke is a big deal for you! I can't tell you why, you have to remember on your own. But I'm telling you! Make more effort for the Teme! Don't ignore him just because he ignores you. He always ignores people!"

Sakura rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "He's a big deal for me….because he's my teammate? Is that it?"

Naruto crunched his nose, trying to not burst with the answer. _Because you were deeply madly irrevocably crazily inlove with him!_ "Er….something like that. But not really."

Sakura frowned. "That doesn't really make sense. But okay, we'll see."

Naruto gave Sakura the thumbs up. "That's the spirit Sakura chan! I promise, that is worth it. Anyway, I'll be late for my meeting with the Teme. See ya later!" He gave one last cheery wave then hurried away. Sakura waved goodbye then walked in the opposite direction.

 _Sasuke huh?_ Sakura thought, casually walking aimlessly again. _Well, what harm could it do?_ She shrugged noncommittally. Then she spotted a flower shop, the one she came in to first to look for a map when she first came to Konoha.

 _Ino!_ She thought excitedly as she rushed in the sweet smelling store.

"Ino!" She yelled heartily, her arms spread as she ran towards the shocked girl by the counter.

"Eeeeep!" Ino exclaimed as Sakura put her arms around Ino's slim figure.

"You're so thin I could just carry you!" Sakura said, actually carrying her.

"AHHHHH! STOP THAT YOU WEIRD FOREHEAD GIRL! PUT ME DOWN!" Ino screamed at the top of her lungs.

Sakura chuckled, putting her friend down gently. "You know I was just calling Sasuke weird earlier. Man, Karma is fast."

Ino's eyes widened. "You finally talked to Sasuke kun?"

Sakura pouted. "Why are all of you waiting for me to talk to Sasuke? Is he like my secret fraternal twin or something?!"

Ino gasped, looking disgusted. "Ew. No. Incest much."

Sakura tilted her head. "What?"

Ino rolled her eyes. "Nothing, you dense billboard brow. Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"Well today's my day off. I figured you'd be here. We haven't seen much of each other." Sakura said, looking around and staring at the pretty flowers.

Ino clapped her hands. "Finally! Jeez ever since you came back, you've been doing nothing but work at the hospital! Since today is your free day, we'll go have some fun!"

Sakura nodded excitedly. "Yay! What will we do today?!"

Ino lead her out of the shop. "Hold on, I'll just close the shop. Wait there and don't leave okay?" Sakura nodded, leaning on the door and looking out in a daze.

Ino smiled. Unlike Naruto, they haven't really seen much of each other. Ino understood that the first thing Sakura wanted to do was build her identity first before she could go and meet them all. So she had to stay at the hospital and find her medic nin self. If Tsunade was already giving her a free day, then it meant she was ready for all of them too. Ino was thrilled. She would soon be having her friend back.

But in all honesty, Sakura had already fit in like a glove to the village. The villagers loved her happy demeanor. She was hardworking and vibrant. But she was also really adorable. At first, Ino could really only look at Sakura with disbelief. She was so like the old Sakura and yet so different as well. She was still caring like before, and she would still worry like before. But she was so much jollier than the old Sakura. She seemed to have so much patience while the old Sakura would snap at the barest hint of insult.

Sure, Sakura would still respond with Ino when Ino picked a fight with her. But it was more playful than vengeful. Ino could sense that Sakura adored her, as she gushed over her and listened to everything Ino said with amazement, and Ino was really touched with that. Their relationship as rivals ceased to feel like a competition of getting better than the other. Now it just felt more like playing with each other, still wanting to win, but genuinely wanting the other to win as well. Honestly, it had always been like that before. But they were too caught up in their own vanities and pride to voice it out. Now Sakura is just really honest about it.

"Hey Forehead. You ready?" Ino said as she locked the doors to her shop. Sakura nodded and clung herself to Ino's arms.

"Yes, Ino Pig!" Sakura said cheerily. Ino rolled her eyes.

Ino dragged Sakura to the shops in Konoha. This was something they would like to do together before….shopping. But unlike before, Sakura seemed to have developed a nice sense of fashion from the West. So Ino and Sakura had fun giving each other advices and formulating new styles that would fit the other. Sakura enjoyed dressing Ino up with the West fashion trends while Ino was so amazed with Sakura's new intensely hot figure that Ino dressed her up like a Barbie doll. Ino even tried dressing Sakura with weird mismatching neon colors and surprisingly, it still looked good. _Damn!_ Ino cursed, glaring at Sakura with a little envy. Sakura laughed and dragged Ino off. Sakura also dressed Ino with weird Neon colors, but it was so artfully chosen that it looked good on Ino as well. Ino loved it so much she bought it, even though they were just experimenting on that.

Sakura also happened to be an expert in hairstyling. They went to a do-it-yourself kind of parlor and Sakura loved Ino's hair a lot, that she designed Ino's hair in so many pretty ways, instead of just cutting it. In the end, Sakura left Ino's hair alone, not having the heart to cut it or ruin it with any changes. Ino just memorized Sakura's designs with her hair and promised to do them that way in some days.

Soon, they were just walking around Konoha, laughing and giggling with stories, as they carry dozens of shopping baskets which barely fit their arms.

Then suddenly, a flash of memory flooded her mind again.

" _Everyone makes fun of your forehead huh?" Ino said as she sat down infront of Sakura, who was sobbing and shaking._

 _Sakura looked up fearfully. "Who are...?"_

 _Ino smiled at her. "I'm Yamanaka Ino. What about you?"_

 _Sakura gasped. She was usually just called based on her huge forehead. But now she was being asked her name. Sakura bit her lip nervously, but she answered in a trembling voice. "I'm Sakura. Haruno Sakura."_

 _Then Ino came closer to her and tapped her forehead. Sakura flinched. But Ino looked at her directly in the eye. "Ahhh I see. So this is the big forehead. So you try to hide it with your hair. You look like a ghost." Sakura's lip trembled at Ino's comment. Ino watched her cry and smiled gently. "It's Sakura right? Come here again tomorrow. I'll give you something nice."_

 _The next day, Ino gave her a ribbon so she can tie her bangs back._

" _They make fun of it more 'cause you try to hide it! You have a cute face so show it off confidently! CONFIDENTLY!" Ino was telling her determinedly._

 _Then the scene changed._

" _A flower is meaningless unless it blooms right? And it could grow into a flower even more beautiful than a cosmos." Ino was telling Sakura as they sat in the middle of a beautiful meadow. At that moment, Sakura knew that Ino was referring to her as a flower that can someday grow beautifully._

 _The scene changed again._

 _This time Ino and Sakura were sitting side by side, bruised and scratched._

 _Ino grinned at Sakura and stretched her hands to give Sakura her forehead protector back._

" _You did make it bloom." She said. "A beautiful flower."_

Sakura snapped back to reality. "Ribbon!" She suddenly exclaimed.

Ino stared at Sakura. "What?"

Sakura grinned at Ino and engulfed her in a big hug.

"FOREHEAD WHY ARE YOU BEING WEIRD AGAIN!" Ino yelled, trying to pry Sakura off her.

Sakura beamed at Ino. "I remember you Ino. We really are friends!"

Ino stopped struggling and gazed at Sakura. "Really? You remember me?"

Sakura nodded eagerly. "Yes! Although…..I remember us fighting a lot too." Sakura said, the flood of pictures in her head still flowing. "I don't understand what we're fighting about."

Then Sakura let go of Ino and gasped. "Ino the ribbon! Where is the ribbon you gave me?"

Ino shrugged. "You gave it back to me."

Sakura blinked. She could almost remember everything she and Ino shared, except the ones where they were fighting and the thing about the ribbon. "Why would I do that? As far as I can remember, you save me from being bullied and gave me the ribbon as a boost of confidence."

Ino regarded Sakura. "You remember us being friends. But you don't remember the beginning of our rivalry and everything about it."

Sakura scratched her head. "Well, I kinda know we are rivals. I mean you're seriously always picking a fight, that's one. But I also really feel competitive towards you for some unfathomable reason. I have only felt like that with James. But I also feel it with you. Then I thought….maybe because we're both awesome that we decided to compete with each other?"

Ino laughed loudly. "Because we're BOTH awesome! You wish Sakura! You wish every night to be as awesome as me."

Sakura scoffed. "In your dreams Pig!" Sakura giggled. "But really though. That's the reason right?"

Ino sighed, rubbing her chin. "If this is about our rivalry, and you really can't remember…..oh wait! You don't remember Sasuke kun?"

Sakura moaned. "No! Not him again! What does he have to do with our rivalry!"

Ino smacked her on the head, feeling frustrated. "Idiot! He has everything to do with our rivalry!"

Sakura rubbed her pained head. "Ow. Ino!" Sakura complained. "But seriously, is he like also in our rivalry. Is he competing with us too? That's kinda weird don't you think?"

Ino smacked her again. "OF COURSE THAT'S WEIRD! THAT'S NOT THE REASON!"

"STOP HITTING ME!" Sakura screamed back, jumping a safe distance away from Ino.

"WELL YOU SHOULD BE HIT! MAYBE IT WILL PUT SOME SENSE INTO YOU THEN YOU'D REMEMBER!" Ino exhaled to calm herself. "Sakura, Sasuke is like a vital core of you. It's hard to picture you without considering Sasuke too."

Sakura pouted. "Yeah I figured. That's kinda offending though. Why is Sasuke so intertwined with everything I do before?"

Ino shrugged. "Because he was."

Sasuke gasped. "Oh no! Is he my real father in disguise?!"

Sakura had three bumps on the head now.

"WHY DID YOU HIT ME AGAIN?! THAT WAS TOTALLY A LOGICAL GUESS!"

"HOW IS THAT LOGICAL?! HOW DID YOUR CONCLUSION ENDED UP WITH SASUKE BEING YOUR FATHER?! THAT'S JUST GROSS!"

"HOW IS THAT GROSS? ALL I'M SAYING IS MAYBE HE WAS SUPERVISING EVERYTHING I DO! THAT'S WHY HE SEEMS TO BE CONNECTED WITH EVERYTHING!"

"WELL NO HE'S NOT. NOW STOP IMPLANTING THE IDEA IN MY HEAD!"

Ino rubbed her temples. "Okay okay. We have to fix this. Sai told me earlier that he's going to go meet with Naruto and Sasuke today. And I think I know where they'll be headed right now. Let's go!"

Ino dragged Sakura across town and soon, they spotted the three of them walking casually with scrolls under their arms.

"Oh look it's-" Sakura began but was quickly silenced by Ino when she put a hand over Sakura's mouth.

"Shhhhh!" Ino said. "We'll have to do this by surprise."

"Do what?" Sakura asked curiously, tilting her head.

"Sakura, watch them. Just trust me okay?" Ino said, gesturing to the three.

Sakura turned her eyes to them, frowning at the weird challenge.

"So tell me, who are you looking at right now?" Ino asked.

Sakura shrugged. "Naruto."

Ino gasped. "Ew. Why are you looking at Naruto?"

"Because he's orange and bright. But I'm also looking at Sai. He's so….white you know." Sakura said.

Ino raised her brows. "I think it's a good thing. His skin is like pearl you know. He gleams under the sun, see?"

Sakura looked at her, weirded out. Ino immediately flushed when she realized what she said.

"No that's not the point! Anyway, is that all you see?"

Sakura looked at the three again. "Oh and there's Sasuke. But he's barely noticeable you know. If you look at them you'll either look at bright Naruto or shiny Sai."

Ino shook her head. "You're hopeless Forehead. Look around you, every other girl would look at Sasuke first. Oh they'll also look at Naruto because Naruto's so popular now. And Sai because Sai is cute. But Sasuke…"

Sakura nodded. "Ahhh. Sasuke's so dark that people would fear him. So they look at him first to avoid danger."

Ino slapped a hand to her forehead. "No! It's because he's ultimately handsome you idiot!"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oooooooh. Well that he is." Then she shrugged indifferently. Ino's forehead crinkled in wonder.

"Anyway." Ino said. "Your exercise is to scream I love you Sasuke right now."

Sakura's head snapped towards Ino. "What? Why would I do that?"

Ino pushed Sakura closer to the guys. "Because it will help you with your memories. Trust me."

Sakura pushed back. "No way! That would be too embarrassing! Sasuke is creepy!"

Ino scoffed. "He's not! Just get on with it! This is not even for me! This is for you!"

Sakura scowled. She looked back at the men when Naruto and Sai started laughing. She took a long look at them and noticed Sai actually glinting when the sun touched his skin. Sakura grinned mischievously.

"Okay Ino. STOP PUSHING ME. Listen. I'll do what you want me to do. On One condition."

Ino raised an eyebrow. "Why are you setting conditions?! This is-"

Sakura raised a finger to silence her. "You're going to scream I love you as well."

Ino scoffed, thinking that she would be screaming 'I love you Sasuke'. "Okay, that's easy and-"

"But you're going to say I love you to Sai."

Ino froze. "WHAT? Why in the hell would I do that?! You're screaming to Sasuke for yourself in the first place! I have absolutely no gains in this-"

Sakura glared at her. "No gains? NO GAINS? You're doing this for a friend who lost her memories! You're doing this because she's suffering, feeling lost, not knowing who she is! You're doing this because you are a true friend who wants to put that friend out of her misery! You're doing this because as a true friend, you couldn't stand knowing that she's basking in loneliness, in the world of darkness that she is in right now! So tell me Ino, NO GAINS?!"

Ino groaned. "You're just turning this around on-"

Sakura turned her back to Ino and started walking away. "Fine. Be selfish like that."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Stop being melodramatic Sakura. SAKURA. Ugh. Fine I'll do it! Come back now!"

Sakura immediately spun towards Ino and grinned. "YES! I knew you love me Ino!"

Ino stamped her foot on the ground. "You just want me to be embarrassed too!"

Sakura winked at her. "Keyword is 'too'. Sasuke creeps me out and you're about to make me scream that I love him. So you should do that but for the opposite reason, because you actually love Sai!"

A blush crept on Ino's cheeks. "I do not!"

Sakura shrugged. "Then it should be no problem. Anyway, do it after me okay?"

Sakura positioned herself a distance away from the boys and placed both hands beside her mouth. She glanced at Ino, who gave her a thumbs up.

Sai saw Sakura. "Oh look! It's-"

Sakura drew a deep breath and screamed as loud as she can. "I LOVE YOU SASUKE KUN!"

Naruto, Sai, and Sasuke froze on their tracks and stared at the source of the loud deafening voice. Sakura beamed at the three of them and winked. "Hi there. Don't move okay? We have to do something first. INO! IT'S YOU NOW."

Ino shook her head frantically, her cheeks flaming now. "Sakura, no. I can't do it. I-"

"What?! No way! Sasuke is staring at me like I'm crazy see! DO IT!" Sakura said, throwing her a scathing glare.

Ino swallowed a few times and glanced at the boys who were now staring at her. _Damn it._ Sakura looked serious too.

She sighed. _Here goes nothing._ "I- er…." _I can't do it!_

Sakura growled at her. "Ino-"

 _Ugh shut up Forehead._ "I LOVE YOU SAI KUN!"

Silence. Naruto's mouth was hanging open now. Ino looked absolutely horrified. Sasuke's face was blank as he tried to analyze what was going on. Sakura was trying to stifle a laugh. Sai, on the other hand….

He stared at Ino with a confused look. They stared at each other for a few mortifying seconds. Then Sai suddenly pulled out a book and quickly scanned it. Sai looked up at Ino with a big smile on his face. He drew a deep breath and then he said,

"I LOVE YOU TOO INO CHAN!"

Silence again. This time, Naruto stared at Sai with wide eyes. Sasuke was staring at Sai too, although he looked a little annoyed, probably because Sai screamed next to his ear. Sakura was blinking at Sai in surprise. While Ino…..

Her face was so red it could pass for a tomato. She shivered for a few seconds. And then…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She screamed in a yell that must have been heard across boarders as she ran away so fast she suddenly disappeared.

"Okay wow. That was totally unexpected." Sakura said with a giggle she approached the boys. "Hi guys." She greeted pleasantly.

Naruto opened his arms in exasperation. "What was that?! You and Ino suddenly started confessing and-"

Sakura waved her hand dismissively. "We weren't confessing you idiot! She said if I do that, I would somehow regain some important memories I missed. I just dragged her along with me."

Naruto and Sai looked at each other, then they both looked at Sasuke.

Sasuke stared back at them impassively.

Sakura looked at the three of them. "So….are you going to tell me why screaming 'I love you Sasuke' is helpful to me? Or did Ino just make fun of me?"

Sai opened his mouth but Naruto clamped a hand over it. "No Sai! She's supposed to remember major things on her own!"

Sakura scowled at Naruto. "Really. How is an exercise with a stupid confession trigger a major thing in me?"

Naruto sighed. "Just trust us on this Sakura chan. It's really something major."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Naruto, we have to look through these scrolls. Sai, we already looked through some of your scrolls so you can go now. Sakura, you're annoying. Go away." He threw a withering gaze at Sakura and started to walk away.

Sakura pouted. "I know who you are Sa-su-ke-kun." Sasuke stopped walking and glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

"You're my guardian angel."

Silence.

Sai laughed awkwardly. "Ugly, only you would come up with the most hopelessly romantic ideas."

Sakura blushed. "No! I don't mean it to be romantic! I mean he's supposed to be tied with all the major decisions I did right? But he's not my brother nor my father. So I figured he could be sent down to earth and watch over me!"

Naruto guffawed, shaking his head with tears of laughter. "Sakura chan. That's just golden."

"STOP LAUGHING AT ME YOU IDIOTS! I'm being serious here!" Sakura yelled, feeling embarrassed.

Sasuke turned towards her and walked until he was infront of her. "I tried to kill you countless times, Sakura. How did you make me into a divine being meant to protect you?"

Sakura's eyes widened in excitement. Sasuke frowned at her reaction. Sai and Naruto prepared themselves to laugh.

"I KNOW! You're my guardian devil! Meant to let me go astray."

And that afternoon, that area was filled with laughs by 2 people, who only stopped laughing after a loud bonking on their heads.

 **A/N: Okay, I just finished this tonight. I'm gonna edit it when I wake up tomorrow. Anyway, this is just the beginning of her regaining her memories. I think I'll do another chapter of it, then Sakura will be on a mission, then I can finally pull off my genius plan on how to get her complete memories back. Only after then can I bring back the main plot on the West. We need to spend quality time with Konoha. So I'm gonna sleep now. Ja ne!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

 **A/N: Helloooo. This will be a continuation of the "Regaining memories" part of this story. By the way, don't mind the wrong grammars and tenses. I'm gonna lay out these parts first them fix them later on. I just need to put the ideas off my head.**

 **Anyway, I got one review that requested for Sakura and Hinata's friendship? Well I plan to make Sakura meet all of Konoha 11 in this chapter. So I will actually have some Sakura and Hinata moments** **I really appreciate all of Konoha 11 in Naruto so I want to give them as much exposure as I can. Even though they all have to be jam packed. But I will try. It's so sad that Neji is already dead. He happens to be one of my favorite characters**

 **The review also asked me about Matchmaker Sakura. To be honest, I intended her to be an extreme matchmaker the moment she got back to Konoha. But I'm treading in a thin line between clueless-of-love Sakura and Matchmaker Sakura. Let's see how it plays out.**

 **And no, I really don't intend her to just suddenly fall in love again with Sasuke. Although I'm still testing the waters. As I said, this will be a SasuSaku story after all. But even up to now, it's hard to put a development between the 2. I'm playing between Sakura who lost interest in Sasuke because she lost her memories, and Sasuke who's still not interested in Sakura. It's so complicated. Any suggestions?**

 **Anyway, I missed being back too! Thank you so much for appreciating the story! I honestly felt like the last chapter was a little awkward. But I'll work on it.**

 **Yay Chappie 12.**

A Guide to Choosing the Perfect Hang-Out Places For Friends

The Principles of Humor: An Idiot's Guide to Being Funny

Ways on How Not To Be Awkward

12 Fail Safe Steps to show Sincerity

Beginner's Guide to Falling in Love

"Uhhhh Sai, are you seriously going to read those books?" Sakura asked incredulously, looking over Sai's shoulder, reading his chosen books' titles. Sakura ended up following Sai to the library as they left an extremely annoyed Sasuke and a chuckling Naruto.

Sakura decided that she would borrow books at the library to pass the time. She always liked reading anyway. Sai was going to borrow books too, but she didn't realize that he had such peculiar tastes to his reading hobbies.

"Oh I already know all the basics of interactions. I have been studying for years after all. I just like reading about them from time to time." Sai said, his eyes closed in a smile.

Sakura frowned. "Studying about them….you mean you've been studying about interacting? Why in the world would you do that? You have lots of friends to show you just that!"

"Well." Sai began, his lips transforming to a sad and small smile. "I used to have no real friends. I didn't know how to have one, how to keep one, and what is one."

Sai sat by the library desks and started flipping through his books in a carefree pace. Sakura followed and stared at Sai, her gaze just softly regarding.

"Is that why you always check your notes first when you talk to us?"

Sai shook his head. "Not all the time. You told me before that I should be just myself. But then you hit me when I tried, because I called you Ugly."

Sakura blinked. "Oh but-"

"But you were right." Sai continued. "It was easier just being myself. But sometimes, you can't be too sure."

Sai smiled sincerely at her before he returned back to his books. Sakura clutched her own borrowed books and thought about it in silence. Sai is such an endearing guy. It creeped her out at first because he was always smiling so weirdly, as if it's a task to be pleasant or it's a job to smile. But she realized that he was only smiling because he wanted to make her comfortable. He told her he read somewhere that a smile always brought comfort. Sakura personally found it sweet that a guy like this was striving so hard to be a good friend. They must be really close before.

"It's easier now isn't it?" Sai suddenly asked, not looking away from his books.

Sakura stared at him, fiddling with the edges of her books. "What is?'

"Your stay here." Sai said. He looked up at her, watching her curiously. "You were afraid of us in the first days."

Sakura bit her lip nervously. "I still am, to be honest. But I'm happier that everything seems to be falling in place. I remember a lot of things now."

Sai nodded. "You belong here Sakura. Rose. Whatever your name now is. Oh what would you prefer me to call you now?"

Sakura beamed at him. "Ugly."

Sai nodded, almost laughing. "Ugly." He agreed.

Then the flashes came again.

" _N-Naruto…..Sakura…." Sai's soft voice interrupted the growing quarrel between Naruto and Sakura. They both turned to look at a seemingly embarrassed Sai who was looking down feebly at the ground._

" _Would you mind if I join the conversation as well?"_

 _Naruto and Sakura waited for Sai to continue, looking at him curiously. Sai had just changed from being a cold unfeeling person, made that way by the harsh training of Danzo, and had decided to go on a quest to understand relationships and ties, siding with Team 7 in the last minute in their pursuit to bring back…..someone?...to Konoha. (Sakura's memories waivered at this part)._

" _Ah! Er….I read this book, about getting to know people and stuff….and…."_

 _Sai turned out to be struggling with nicknames, deciding if he should just add suffixes like "Sakura-chan" and "Naruto-kun." But he decided that nicknames are ultimately more personal. Sakura gave him examples of creating nicknames, saying that it's supposed to describe the personal characteristics of the person he intended to give a nickname to._

" _Thanks! I think I got the hang of it now…." Sai turned his closed eyes smile to Sakura. Then he said,_

" _Ugly."_

 _Silence._

 _Then Naruto immediately leaped to wrap his arms around Sakura to stop her, as she also immediately made to pounce on Sai with waving fists._

" _SHAANNAROO!" Sakura roared in rage._

 _Naruto's face scrunched as he tried to hold Sakura back. "Sai! That's way way overdoing it!"_

 _Sai just smiled. "Huh? What do you mean?" He asked innocently._

 _Later on, both he and Naruto got bruises on the face. Then Sai got another bruise when he called Ino Gorgeous, and Sakura got angry just because._

 _The scene changed._

 _Ino and Sakura were both arguing as usual when Sai came up behind them and said,_

" _So their nicknames are Forehead Girl and Ino Pig."_

 _Ino and Sakura stopped arguing and glared at Sai. Suddenly, they turned to each other with a smile._

 _They both raised their fists towards Sai and…_

 _The scene changed._

 _Naruto was injured so it was hard for him to eat at his favorite ramen place, Ichiraku._

 _Sakura sighed and she was about to feed Naruto. Naruto's eyes sparkled with excitement. When suddenly…_

" _Opeeeen Wide!" Sai sang from next to him, shoving the spoon into his mouth._

 _Naruto gagged, turning red with frustration and heat. "OW! HOT!" Naruto complained, struggling from Sai, who was currently still trying to feed him. "IT'S HOT!" Naruto screamed, trying to shove Sai away. "AND ON TOP OF THAT, IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE YOU!"_

 _Kakashi looked on at them with amusement while Sakura giggled._

 _Sai gave Naruto his brightest smile. "When a friend is in need, a true friend helps them. That's what the book….."_

" _FORGET ABOUT THE BOOK! Read the situation! The situation!" Naruto yelled in frustration._

 _The scene changed._

" _Please don't think you have to shoulder all the responsibility." Sai was telling Sakura. "I'm part of Team 7 too." Sakura merely pretended to agree with Sai as she smiled a fake smile. Sai inhaled subtly, concern glinting from his eyes._

 _The scene changed._

" _Even I can tell!" Sai screamed at Sakura, shaking with anger. "That he really loves you!" Sakura can see in his eyes that all this anger was because he was also hurt that Naruto was hurting._

Sakura blinked, memories were still flooding her head but for now, she was here and now, with Sai. Sai was still grinning from calling her ugly. Sakura suddenly laughed and threw her arms around Sai. Sai caught her and looked at her, startled at the sudden attack.

"Oh Sai!" Sakura said affectionately, burying her face at the crook of his neck. Sai shifted uncomfortably, but he hugged her back.

"Mmmm….are you hugging me because you're sad? Or because I'm sad?" Sai said, confused.

Sakura giggled. "I just want to hug you."

Sai immediately turned to her. "I can do that whenever?"

"No." Sakura instantly said. She can't have him suddenly pouncing on people. Naruto would definitely complain to her on that.

Sakura sighed, she missed Sai after all. And she now understood why Ino liked him so much. He was so adorable and innocent. Speaking of Ino…

"Oh Sai. By the way." She said, calling his attention. Sai looked at her, inching a way a little bit from the proximity. Sakura rolled her eyes and returned back to her seat.

"Why did you say I love you back to Ino?" Sakura asked, wanting to make sure that he actually loved her friend, and not because he got the concept confused again.

"Oh because I care for Ino too! The way she does for me, that's why she said it right? A book told me that the "I love you" expression is to express your deep care and feelings towards a cherished person." Sai replied happily.

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Would you tell me you love me too?"

Sai tilted his head, but then he nodded. "Yeah of course! I love you Sakura. You and Ino are my cherished friends."

 _Oh no. I knew he would be thinking like this._ Sakura rubbed her temples. It would be difficult to hammer on Sai's head how romantic relationships work. But he once accused Naruto of being in love with Sakura. So maybe it's not all hopeless.

Sakura grabbed Sai's books and scanned each of them. She took the one titled "Beginner's Guide to Falling In Love" and handed it to Sai.

Sai threw her a questioning look. Sakura shrugged. "That is another concept of love altogether. I think it's time you know about it?"

She winked at him and stood up. She made her way out of the library. But before she closed the library doors behind her, she turned back to Sai and said,

"Oh and don't just randomly say "I love you" to your friends. It's weird and creepy. I mean you can, but try not to be too Sai. Oh whoops, go ahead after all." Sakura laughed as Sai rolled his eyes but offered her a small smile before he opened the book Sakura handed him and pored over it seriously. Sakura bit her lip and smiled as she left the library.

DISJDISJDLKSJLKSDJKSDJLSKDJKLDJLKSJD

Sakura was whistling pleasantly as she deliberated where she would read her books. The village was bustling a little now as the people are rushing to start their days. She then spotted a girl with long dark blue hair.

"Hinata chan!" Sakura called, waving her arms high and wide so Hinata would see her. Hinata turned to her, eyes growing wide, and smiling back shyly, giving her a small wave.

"Hi Sakura chan." She said softly, walking towards Sakura.

"Hello. What's up? Still having boy troubles? I remember you were quite distressed back at that well." Sakura said casually. Hinata gasped, looking left and right nervously.

Sakura giggled as she drew closer to Hinata and whispered. "Don't worry. I don't think Kiba is here."

Hinata immediately stopped fidgeting and stared at Sakura. "Ummm….Kiba kun?"

Sakura shrugged. "Yeah. Isn't he that boy you were talking about? The one with a lot of fangirls?'

Hinata's lips almost curled in ickiness. But she stopped herself to be polite. "No, Sakura chan."

Sakura pouted, rubbing her lips together, deep in thought. "Oh is it Sasuke then? Ino said he has a lot of fangirls."

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise. "But…Sasuke….mmm…"

Sakura nodded. "Okay No. Sasuke is creepy, I know." Hinata blinked, confused.

Sakura snapped her fingers. "I know who it is! I saw you blushing and stuttering when you talk to him! Man, I'm dense! It's Naru-"

Hinata's hands immediately clamped over Sakura's lips. "Me, Kiba and Shino are on a simple mission to find something just at the near forest. Wanna Come? Yay! Let's go."

Hinata dragged Sakura all the way out of the village.

JSFKLKSLDKSDLKS:LK:SKD:LASK:LDSKALDKSLK:SASBDKASJ

"What are you doing here again, Sakura?" Kiba asked as he looked around the clearing with Akamaru behind him. Team 10 is currently on a B rank mission, collecting the small "creatures" that Kakashi said escaped a wealthy household in Konoha. It was simple enough to capture them. The only reason why it was B rank was because the creatures themselves were extremely valuable.

Kakashi assigned his best tracker team to recapture the creatures to honor that high value, even if it was really just simple to catch them.

Thus, excusing Sakura's presence right now. She wouldn't really be a bother since the mission was so easy. But he was still curious to know why she was with them right now. He hadn't seen Sakura in some time since she immersed herself in work after returning to Konoha. That's not to say that he hadn't met her at all. She had always been jolly whenever they all meet. It was a contagious kind of joy, he can't help feeling happy too around her.

Sakura opened her mouth but Hinata suddenly spoke.

"She missed us and wanted to help. Right, Sakura chan?"

Hinata looked at Sakura pleadingly. Kiba chuckled. "There's no point hiding it Hinata. You only ever act this way if it involves Naruto."

Hinata gasped, turning to glare at her teammates. Shino sighed. "Yeah that's right, Hinata. Sakura must have exposed your secret by blurting it out loud, right?"

Hinata flushed and looked down, shuffling her feet both in embarrassment and annoyance. She pursed her lips shut and decided to ignore everyone.

Shino looked at Sakura. "You tend to be quite clueless Sakura, especially when it comes to romance for some weird reason."

Sakura shrugged. She put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and gave her an apologetic smile. Hinata sighed but nodded in defeat. Sakura was too sweet to continue being angry at. Besides, Shino is right. Sakura actually was clueless. She had, after all, made 2 wrong guesses before she got it. Hinata thought that her secret was so obvious that only those as dense as Naruto couldn't have gotten it.

"S-Sakura chan, you really didn't know it was Naruto?" Hinata asked, curious.

Sakura laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. Sorry, Hinata. I knew Kiba would be too smelly for you. But then Naruto's not any different so…"

"Hey!" Kiba complained, shooting Sakura with a glare. Sakura chuckled. Kiba rolled his eyes. "I can't believe you thought it was me. How could you have thought that?"

Sakura frowned, thinking. "Well, Hinata's always with you. So it must be you."

Shino raised his brows. "You of all people, Sakura, should know that love has got nothing to do with proximity and presence."

Sakura's forehead creased. "What do you mean?'

Kiba and Hinata stare at Sakura in surprise. Of course, Sasuke had been gone for so many years and yet Sakura's love for him never wavered. Except now she was clueless about it all.

Hinata cleared her throat. "You don't remember Sasuke?"

Sakura suddenly stomped a foot and groaned. "No! Not Sasuke again! Everyone is just like Sasuke this, Sasuke that!"

Kiba laughed. "Oh I once knew a girl who was Sasuke this, Sasuke that, before."

Sakura huffed. "Well that girl must be crazy."

Kiba laughed harder. "Oh she is."

Sakura blinked a few times, not really catching on the subtle attacks of Kiba. "Well whatever. I'll just remember Sasuke whenever. I don't care."

She turned to Hinata. "So let's talk about Naruto. Are you going to get married soon?"

Hinata flushed bright red. "Oh ahmm…uhmmm….mmm…."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Sakura, stop torturing Hinata. Jeez you're supposed to be the ultimate romantic expert around here since you've been at it the longest along with Ino."

"I am?" Sakura asked, confused.

Shino shook his head. "Ignore Kiba, Sakura. You'll remember on your own pace."

Sakura fixed her gaze on Shino gratefully. But then her lips curled into a knowing smile.

"So Shino! How are things with Allie?" Sakura asked in a high chirp. Shino visibly froze.

"AHA! So Allie is the name of that girl huh? Wait, that Allie from the West? One of Sakura's friends from the West?" Kiba exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at Shino. "Allie from the West is the one you've been emailing every night?"

Sakura gasped. "You've been emailing every night?!"

Hinata just smiled at Shino, as if congratulating him for finally having a love life.

Shino scowled at all of them. "It's not a big deal. Stop making it like that. Al and I are friends."

"You're calling him Al! It took months before she allowed us to call her Al!" Sakura said, pointing at Shino now too. Shino huffed and turned his back to them. But the tips of his ears were red.

Kiba laughed. "Shino you're such a dork. 'We're just friends.' Please."

Hinata turned to Kiba and said softly. "But Kiba kun, aren't you meeting up with Tamaki chan, the cats owner?"

Kiba was the one who froze now. Shino threw Hinata a grateful smile.

Sakura giggled. "Ahh love is in the air for Team 10."

Shino frowned at Sakura. "It's only because you can't remember yours."

Sakura tilted her head. "Oh so I have a love life?"

Kiba scoffed. "Not exactly. Just a love desire?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Well a simple crush shouldn't matter."

Hinata shook her head. "But it's not just some crush Sakura chan. It's a foundation of strength and intensity for you."

Sakura rolled the tips of her hair on her fingers. "I really don't get it."

Shino shrugged. "You will, in time. By the way, Allie told me to tell you that she misses you."

Sakura wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Ahuh."

Shino turned red. "I'm just saying."

Sakura leaped beside Shino. "Allie is such a serious girl isn't she? You should try to tempt her out of her shell."

Shino nodded. "Yeah. She's too serious. But I sense that it's all a façade, an attempt to have a level of control in life. It's fear of uncertainty more than anything else."

Kiba shook his head. "Who are you to lecture someone about being serious, Shino? You're a stone."

Shino frowned. "I am not. But even if I am, sometimes, you just want to try new things with the right person."

Silence.

Kiba yawned. "Well, that my folks is Shino's love confession."

Shino glared at Kiba. "It is not! It is an expression of concern for a dear friend!"

Sakura shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I totally ship them. And Allison has a fascination with bugs too. Perfect match. Done."

Hinata and Kiba nodded in agreement. Shino rolled his eyes and went back to his task.

Sakura turned to Kiba. "So what's that about Tamaki that Hinata was talking about?"

Kiba lifted his chin proudly. "Well, unlike these two, I'm not ashamed to say that I like Tamaki and that we've been going on dates."

Shino and Hinata glared at him. He grinned.

Shino raised his brows. "Is that so Kiba? Should I then let it slip to Tamaki that you like her?"

Kiba visibly paled.

Sakura giggled. "That would be so cute though. Dogs and Cats."

Kiba grinned. "Yeah. You know what they say, sometimes, it's not exactly what we're looking for that catches us. And yet it's the one that makes us the happiest."

Silence.

Shino snorted. "Who's the dork now."

Kiba leaped at Shino and wrestled him. Hinata laughed softly.

"If you live together, I wonder whose smell would dominate, cat smell or dog smell." Sakura wondered absently. Kiba rolled his eyes.

He pushed Shino away playfully and dusted himself off. "The dog smell of course. The man shall dominate!"

Hinata coughed. "But Kiba kun, I saw you carrying Tamaki chan's groceries the other day, while cradling her cats."

Kiba turned to her, exasperated. "Are you following us on our dates?!"

"Huh. It's only a date in your dreams." Shino said.

"It's only an adventure-with-the-right-person in YOUR dreams." Kiba mimicked.

They glared at each other. Then Kiba pounced on Shino to wrestle him again.

Hinata sighed. "Guys." But she was smiling at them in amusement.

And then she frowned, looking down at her feet.

"What's wrong Hinata?" Sakura asked, instantly noticing her mood. She whispered so the wrestling boys wouldn't hear.

Hinata shook her head. "I'm happy that Shino and Kiba seem happy with their love lives."

Sakura nodded in understanding. "Ahhh are you worried about yours?'

Hinata looked up at Sakura. "No. Of course not! It's not a primary focus. I'm a dedicated kunoichi and that will always be my priority."

Sakura smiled. "Of course. But it would still be nice if only…" She trailed off, knowing Hinata got it.

Hinata sighed again.

Sakura put a hand on Hinata's shoulder and beamed at her. "Well I think you stand a solid chance with Naruto. He's dense and he could be an idiot most of the time but I think there is no one else more fitting for him than you."

Hinata gasped, surprised. "W-Why do you think that S-Sakura Chan?" A blush was forming on her cheeks.

"Naruto is bright and blinding. While you are gentle and glowing." Sakura said, looking up at the sky. "There's Shino, like butterflies, he and Allie would transform into a new beautiful life. There's Kiba, love in polar opposites. Then there's you, the Sun and the Moon. I think it's perfect."

Sakura sighed dreamily.

Hinata smiled gratefully at Sakura, feeling more confident. It did sound perfect.

Sakura winked at her and proceeded to the boys.

Sakura went to the boys and pulled them apart.

"Well, I think I should stop distracting you guys so you could finish your mission early. I'll be going now! Ja ne!" She told them, raising a hand in farewell. She turned back to the village and started walking away.

"Thank you Sakura chan!" Hinata called after her. Sakura raised a thumbs up in the air without turning back.

Kiba looked at Sakura's retreating figure. "Well Sakura's different don't you think?"

Shino nodded. "I think she's the same in a lot of things. But yeah, she changed in a lot of ways too. Weird how she's clueless about love when all her life almost revolved around loving Sasuke and longing for him."

Hinata frowned. "That's not what the old Sakura was just about. She also cared about Naruto and her team. And she's compassionate, that's why she's a medic see?"

Kiba snorted. "Yeah yeah. But she's more fun to be around now yeah? She's just…so….free? I dunno. It's like she's not worried about anything. It's so….positive."

Shino shook his head. "I think it's all perspective. Allie says that there are a lot of things going on in the West and I bet Sakura is also worried. But she chose to focus on the good things around her."

Kiba whistled. "Well that's amazing."

Hinata nodded. "Yes. She's amazing."

JKSDHJSDHLKSDJKSFJLKSJFJJDLKSJDLSJDLKSJFL

On her way back, Sakura caught the sound of swift movement and loud thumping from another part of the forest. She quickly hurried to the source of sound, posing defensively and sneaking to the shadows to investigate.

It was just Lee and Tenten sparring.

"Oh, hey you guys!" Sakura called out to them, springing out of her hiding place.

Lee immediately turned to Sakura, his aura turning into vibrant pink with hearts sprouting out everywhere.

"It is you my Cherry Blossom! I knew you would soon be seeking this youthful strength I have, and I can only offer you all of me." Lee recited lovingly, opening his arms as he prepared himself to engulf her in a hug.

Sakura quickly sidestepped, leaving Lee to land face first on the ground.

"Uhhh No." Sakura said, stepping around Lee to stand beside Tenten. Tenten was frowning down at her teammate, her lips set in a disapproving scowl.

"Lee please behave yourself. You're so erratic!" Tenten scolded in a bitter tone. Sakura sensed that there's more to it than she was letting on. Tenten turned to Sakura with a stony smile.

"Forgive him Sakura. He doesn't mean any of it."

Lee leaped up to his feet gracefully, shaking his head. "But I mean it my love, pinkness of Konoha, you have all of me and you may do as you please with me."

Sakura saw Tenten's fists clenched. And she wasn't so sure whether Tenten was about to hit Lee or Sakura herself. Sakura started backing away from the two, with her hands up as a sign of surrender.

"Mmmmm I'll just leave you guys if I'm being a bother. I'm sorry."

Tenten's expression immediately softened. "Oh, no Sakura! I'm sorry. I was just having a bad day. It's okay. We're about to take a break anyway. Come over."

Sakura beamed as she skipped happily next to the two.

Lee looked like he was about to escort Sakura towards them but Tenten kneed him on the groin to keep him still.

"Ow! You are too harsh Ten. I admit, that youthful vigor is impressive. But that just hurt."

Tenten giggled, shaking her head at her silly teammate. Sakura watched them with amusement.

"You two are so cute! Have you two ever thought about dating?"

Tenten immediately turned red while Lee gasped.

"But Sakura, there is no one else for me but you and your beautiful cherry locks!"

Tenten was watching Lee with a sad expression as he said this, but when she realized that Sakura's eyes were on her, she immediately hid it. She turned her facial expression into anger.

"Lee you're so stupid." She just exclaimed, suddenly punching Lee.

"I thought we were on a break! You hit me twice already!" Lee complained, rubbing his head soothingly.

Tenten glared at Lee. "Well you were being stupid!"

Lee shook his head. "How I was being stupid? Declaring love for someone isn't stupid! It's a noble youthful expression!"

Tenten stomped her feet. "Of course it's stupid! Especially if the one you're confessing to probably never liked you! Most especially if he likes someone else!"

Silence.

"B-because…Sakura likes Sasuke! Right Sakura?!" Tenten stammered, realizing her weird little slips.

"Uhhhh…" Sakura responded uneasily.

Lee stood straight infront of Tenten. "It doesn't matter if she likes someone else. I would keep confessing my love as long as she is unattached. I would never know if I have a chance if I never try. I will keep trying until it's just over."

Tenten stared at Lee. "Even if she obviously doesn't like you right now?"

Lee nodded. "Love can always develop. We never really know. But what I know is the regret I will feel if I never tried."

Tenten stared at Lee, questions swimming in her eyes. While Lee stared back at her with determination.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Ummmm are we about to hear a confession?"

Tenten turned red to the roots. While Lee nodded at her enthusiastically.

"But of course my Sakura! I'll let you hear my confession again and again!"

"I wasn't talking about your confession." Sakura whispered under her breath, watching as Tenten pinched Lee's ear.

"So Tenten!" Sakura called to Tenten, halting the rising arguing between the two.

"Weren't you like Neji's girlfriend before?" Sakura asked curiously. Tenten sat down at the grass and pulled out a bottle of water from her bag. Lee did the same.

Tenten thought about Sakura's question. "Well." Tenten began. "Kinda. Not officially because of all the problems going on back then. What with the war and all. But we confessed to each other, yeah. Why Sakura? Did you remember that?"

Sakura nodded. "Flashes of memories come and go every now and then. I remember you, Lee. You're seriously hung up on me for some weird reason! I don't get it. You saw me once before chunnin exam, and you just love me after that!"

Lee smiled sweetly at Sakura. "Don't you believe in love at first sight? I can't really explain it."

"Besides." Tenten said, eyeing Sakura. "Weren't you the same? You saw him once and declared a friendship over."

Sakura's forehead creased. "What do you mean?"

Lee's mouth popped open. Tenten gasped. "Wait….Don't tell me. You remember about me and Neji, then Lee. But you don't remember about Sasuke?"

Sakura groaned. "For crying out loud! How is this related to Sasuke again? And yet nobody tells me just why the hell he's so relevant to me! Just tell me alright! I had it with all the suspense!"

Tenten frowned, thinking. "Well, I think they want you to remember it yourself. And I think they're right. We can't have you forcing your feelings just because your past self felt them."

Sakura raised her brows. "So it's got something to do with Sasuke and feelings?"

Tenten and Lee paused with bated breaths.

"Did he do something bad to me? Do I hate him that I developed myself due to my hatred of him? Hoping that someday, I'll beat him?"

Tenten looked at her incredulously. Lee started laughing.

"That was Sasuke's story! Not yours. How do you come up with that?" Tenten said, rolling her eyes in exasperation.

Sakura sighed. "STOP LAUGHING LEE. I can't figure it out. Usually I gain back my memories because I interact with people. Sasuke doesn't talk to me. The last time we talked, he told me he tried to kill me several times before. Not exactly a conversation warmer. Oh and by the way, what does he mean by that? Was he serious?"

Tenten pursed her lips and rubbed her chin. "I really don't know how to tell you anything about Sasuke without being a spoiler. But yeah, he did try to kill you before."

Sakura nodded. "I knew he was messed up somewhere in there."

Lee shook his head. "Don't say that Sakura. You are one of the people that Sasuke came home to. Precisely because you continued to believe in him. In his goodness. In his capacity to love and be loved."

Sakura blinked at Lee. "So Sasuke left. I knew there was a reason why Sai is my teammate too." She exhaled. "Look guys, I believe in Sasuke. Honestly. He is weird and scary, but I don't feel bothered around him. I didn't even feel scared when he said he tried to kill me. Maybe it's a manifestation of my old support for the guy."

Tenten smirked. "Oh it's a lot deeper than just that. But you'll figure it out Sakura."

Lee smiled widely at Sakura. "Yes you will! Because my Cherry Blossom is amazing!"

Sakura giggled. She was getting used to Lee and his affections. But then she caught Tenten throw her a sad look.

"Neji's gone right?" Sakura asked, just realizing how blunt the question was, and starting to look horrified. Tenten smiled though.

"He is. But Lee helped me pull through. He was always there for me when I would start to break down. And he really pushed me out of my sadness shell. I don't know, Lee's kind of a constant to me now." Tenten said, nudging Lee affectionately. Sakura sensed the warning in Tenten's tone. Sakura tried not to shiver. Of course she had no intentions of taking Lee away! She didn't see Lee like that! He was funny and sweet but she couldn't look at him that way. It just felt wrong!

Lee grinned at Tenten. "Of course Ten! You're my most precious friend!"

 _Uh Oh! Man he's just like Sai._ Sakura thought, watching Tenten's expression still into a cold silence. Sakura swallowed uneasily.

Then suddenly, Tenten punched Lee so hard that Sakura almost expected Lee's head to roll off. Lee was thrown off his seat and landed flat on the ground. Tenten stood up, shaking in anger and started to walk away.

Sakura sighed. _Okay, here goes nothing._ Sakura disappeared from her spot, and instantly appeared infront of Tenten.

"Sorry, Tenten. I have to do this." Then she pressed a palm to a sensitive spot on Tenten's neck which paralyzed Tenten all over. Sakura pushed Tenten back to a tree gently, and got a rope and a red kunai from Tenten's pouch.

"You know this rope and kunai right? As the weapons mistress, and as you have this in your pouch, then you know what it would do?" Sakura asked Tenten, who could do nothing but stare at Sakura helplessly, questions swimming in her eyes.

"Nothing can cut this rope but this kunai. Having said that," Sakura put the Kunai in Tenten's palms and wrapped the rope around her torso down to her arms, so that her hand with the kunai was covered with the rope too. "Noone else would be able to cut this rope off but you. I hit a sensitive spot on your neck, but strong willpower can snap you out of it. Break away from it with sheer mental strength. Otherwise, you will watch me beat up Lee until he's black and blue."

Lee finally snapped out of his daze from being punched by Tenten and found her all tied up with Sakura standing over her.

"Sakura! What the hell is going on?" Lee demanded, immediately leaping infront of Tenten. Sakura leaped back so that she was in some distance away from the two.

"Resuming your training Lee." Sakura answered smoothly. "I gave Tenten a challenge so she can break away from those ropes. You, on the other hand, have a different challenge. While Tenten is all paralyzed like that, I'm going to attack her with the intention to kill. Protect her at all costs."

Lee blinked, the situation dawning on him. Then he grinned at Sakura with excitement in his eyes.

"Alright! The power of youth spreads on all of us! Give it all you've got Sakura! I will protect my teammate with my life."

Sakura smirked. "Ahh. You think this is a game? Okay, watch your teammate die."

Sakura disappeared, then appeared infront of Tenten with a kunai in her hand. Lee was just as quick as her, appearing beside her and blocking Sakura's arms. Sakura swiped at Lee's legs, which Lee quickly avoided. But while Sakura was swiping at Lee's legs, she had also already thrown her kunai to Tenten. Lee quickly noticed it and deflected the kunai. But another kunai, hidden by the one Lee deflected was coming, and Lee barely had enough time to deflect it. But he managed to do that.

 _Sakura is fast! She's almost as fast as me when I don't have my weights on!_ Lee thought, turning to grin at Sakura. But all of that was just a diversion after all. Because Sakura's act of swiping at Lee's legs was not really that, she swiped to throw a thin needle to Tenten's legs, and made it look like she was just attacking Lee. Then she made it look like a diversion when she throw one visible kunai and one hidden kunai behind it, to make them look like the main attack. But in reality, the first swipe was the real attack and everything else was a diversion. The needle buried itself deep in Tenten's legs.

Lee gasped, watching Tenten almost shiver in pain, and her eyes widen with panic. Lee immediately pulled the needle out. It was dripping with a violet liquid.

"IT'S POISIONED!" Lee yelled, looking at Sakura with horrified eyes.

Sakura nodded dismissively. "I will only heal it if Tenten frees herself. In the meantime, I will come up with the same attacks. I will increase the level of poison with every strike. Every level will shorten Tenten's life faster and faster."

Lee gasped. "Sakura you can't be serious! This is Tenten's life we are talking about! This is a ridiculous training."

"Less talk More work." Then Sakura disappeared. Lee's heart seemed to jump out of his ribcage as Sakura appeared next to Tenten again, kunai striked high for a kill. Lee only caught up with enough time to stray the attack away, but it still grazed Tenten's cheeks.

Sakura was serious about this.

"Tick tock Lee. Every tick is Tenten's life."

Lee ran infront of Tenten. "You are not to touch her any longer." He said firmly, his eyes strictly focused on Sakura and her movements.

Sakura smirked. "We'll see."

Then they started to clash, so fast that Tenten couldn't really see them move anymore. They were just blurs of colors in front of her. She could hear their brief contacts of punches and brief clashes of weapons, but that's just about it. Sakura wasn't kidding, her kunais were poisoned. She could still feel the immense sting of the two that stroke her. But she also felt her body weakening, in response to the poison.

Tenten shivered. She could really die. Sakura's eyes had asked her to trust in Sakura. But she was ultimately frightened as of the moment. She could really die with this. The poison was working too fast. She was trying to do what Sakura said she should do, sheer will. But it was difficult. Amidst all the pain and confusion, it was hard to just will herself to move. Only her eyeballs can move, her nose wouldn't even expand to let her heave and breath. She was trying, but it was getting harder every second. She was dying, and it consumed her thoughts and concentration.

Lee could feel Tenten suffering, and his heart leaped every time Sakura would almost bypass him and get a weapon near Tenten. He threw a glance over his shoulder to look at Tenten, her eyes were wide with fright.

"Sakura." Lee growled, feeling anger course through his system. He never felt so angry all his life. Not even when he lost feeling in his arm and leg. This was Tenten, and he couldn't bear to see her shaking helplessly, her eyes begging for him to help her. All shriveled up in the hands of a crazy enemy. This was Tenten, precious Tenten who would smile at him brightly and comfortingly in the hot summers when he pushed himself too hard. She would bring him refreshments and towels, but she would encourage him to do his best, believing in his capacity to push further. Tenten, who would smack him in the head when he did something wrong, but concern and worry would blaze in her eyes. Tenten who would pick a fight with the biggest men who would make fun of him. Tenten who stood infront of him when he was unconscious in one of their missions. Tenten almost died, handling it alone. But she didn't give in. She stood there, protecting him, until the sun came up. She didn't fall to exhaustion until he finally opened his eyes. This was _his_ Tenten, and he wouldn't let anything harm her, not even Sakura.

"This kunai has the strongest poison as of the moment. It will end the life of a person in 10 minutes. Tell me Lee, who should die?" Sakura said seriously. She performed a jutsu with one hand and covered a large area with blue fire, melting everything it touches. On the other side, she threw a thousand needles licked with that poison she was talking about. There was only one side that she didn't touch, and it would be the safest spot for Lee to jump to, to avoid the fire and the needles. True, the fire wouldn't reach Tenten at that distance, but the needles would. It was a trap. The fire was meant for Lee to jump to safety, to the spot Sakura didn't touch. But if he did, then he would be allowing the needles to penetrate Tenten.

Without a second thought, Lee avoided the fire, but he jumped towards the spot of the needles, sacrificing himself and getting struck with countless needles to block them from getting to Tenten. The poison immediately hit his system. He fell face first to the ground, unconscious from the hard blow of the poison coursing through his body.

Sakura looked at Tenten's alarmed eyes. "I won't heal him unless you break free Tenten. You have 10 minutes. Then he's gone forever."

Tenten's heart stopped, as she watched Lee who caught all the killing needles for her. She was looking at him when he decided to do just that, and she saw the spark of concern, worry, and determination in his eyes as he made the final leap to his death just to save her. But there was something deeper in them that made her almost forget where they were and what was going on. It almost looked like a spark of emotion that she never saw in him when he looked at her before.

It was almost like….the way Neji looked at her before. Only this time, it was even more intense, mixed with confusion and a lot of things, but it was truly there.

 _NO! MOVE YOU STUPID BODY! I AM NOT GOING TO LET HIM DIE! NOT NOW WHEN HE ALREADY REALIZED THAT…._

In that instant, Tenten was finally able to shake her body. The feeling of life down her muscles was such a relief that she almost danced first before anything else. But she felt the key kunai in her hands, and quickly ripped the rope apart.

"THERE SAKURA! NOW HEAL HIM! NOW!" Tenten screamed, leaping next to Lee's body and tears streaming down her face as she looked at his brittle form.

"You are also dying Tenten. You had 2 strikes. You should die in a few minutes too." Sakura said in a curious voice.

Tenten glowered at Sakura. "I. DO. NOT. CARE. Heal him first. If it kills me…tell him that I…that I…mmm…."

Sakura chuckled, which almost made Tenten strangle Sakura right there and then.

But Sakura raised a finger to calm her. And then Sakura snapped her fingers. Suddenly, all the needles sticking in Lee's body disappeared. The hazy feeling that Tenten was feeling because of the poison also disappeared. Her wounds disappeared as well. Lee also suddenly got up, eyes wide open, and mouth hanging in surprise.

Tenten couldn't help it. The first thing she did was engulf Lee in a big tight hug as she sobbed on his shoulders. Surprisingly, Lee also wrapped his arms around her and hugged her as tight as he could as well, rubbing his face on Tenten's hair in a wave of relief and hysteria at having her back.

Sakura smiled at them. Mission accomplished.

"It was Genjutsu." Tenten said a while later when they both calmed down. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Of course it was genjutsu! How horrible do you think I am that I would actually allow you to be in the brink of death!" Sakura exclaimed, clearly offended.

Lee frowned at her. "But it felt so real. I could feel the pain and all."

Sakura shrugged. "You were unharmed. All the pain is in your head. It's all about making the brain believe that it was painful. Then it will be painful."

Lee beamed at the both of them. "Well it was a good exercise nonetheless! I felt my youthful spirit go all out in that battle! Al though I am not very sure what it did for us in training."

Sakura smirked. "Oh it did something."

Tenten smiled at Sakura and winked. "Yeah it surely did." She scooted closer to Lee, who affectionately held her hand and squeezed it.

Sakura got up, feeling satisfied. "Well, I'll be going now. Have fun you two!"

"Oh, Sakura!" Tenten called after her as she started walking away. Sakura turned to Tenten and tilted her head. Tenten grinned at her.

"You will find it too. And with a bang, knowing you."

Sakura's brows raised. "Find what?"

Tenten gaped at her. "How can you be so perceptive about me and be completely dense on yours!"

Lee started laughing. Sakura lifted her shoulders. "I don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, Ja ne!"

Tenten turned to Lee. "Do you really think she'll get it? She's almost as dense as Naruto!"

Lee looked at her blankly. "Get what?"

Tenten froze. But Lee smiled softly at her and ruffled her hair. Tenten knew that he actually got it as she smiled back.

JDSFKJSDHLFJKDHFJKDHFDHFKJDGFKJDSGFJD

Sakura was now just walking aimlessly, her books still under her arms, and deep in thought about where she can peacefully read her books. Miraculously, her books were still in good form despite all the ruckus earlier. She sighed. Those Teams were in love situations. It was interesting. She always loved sweet love stories after all. She was completely lacking in that department so she compensated by helping others. She was one big hopeless romantic after all. She didn't know why but she just craved a healthy dose of romance every now and then.

Despite the variety of choices she had at the West, no one really interested her. She had fan boys here and there, and it seemed like there was a fan boy club starting here now as well. But no one felt like anything for her. They were all friends for her. It was a hard feeling to get rid of. She was like friend zoning everyone. Except Sasuke. Sasuke was supposed to be a teammate and all but she just didn't feel like being friends with him. For some unfathomable reason, she cared for him but she also knew that they weren't really friends. She briefly wondered what it all meant. And what everyone meant.

She sighed. She didn't want to think about Sasuke because it hurt her head.

Just then, she bumped into a huge figure who came out of nowhere and stood infront of her.

"Sakura!" Chouji yelled at her, lifting her up in a hug.

"Ow! Hey Chouji! You surprised me!" Sakura said, wincing at Chouji's tight hug.

"So we can still surprise you? You're always on alert ever since you came back. We won't bite." Shikamaru said good naturedly from the sides, watching her with amusement.

Chouji put Sakura down. Sakura patted her clothes to remove the creases. "I was just thinking about something. Oh hey! I was promoted to doctor last week! Let's celebrate! My treat!"

Chouji gasped then lifted Sakura again into a wiggly hug this time. "Now we're talking! You're an angel in my eyes Sakura!"

Sakura giggled as she was carried by Chouji towards Yakiniku, team 10's barbecue place. Shikamaru sighed.

"Chouji, you're making a spectacle. This is so troublesome."

Chouji barked out a laugh. "Come on Shikamaru, Sakura's treating us to barbecue! What's not to be happy about!"

Shikamaru shook his head in exasperation. But he turned to Sakura with a smirk. "I hope you know what you're getting into."

Sakura looked at Chouji and eyed his big form. She smirked back at Shikamaru. "Oh I do. I just really feel like eating barbecue all of a sudden and I want to do that with friends."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Your paycheck."

This was all a surprise for Shikamaru actually. Chouji was one of the kindest person he knew, but he was also very shy. He wouldn't just man handle anyone, and he was particularly conscious about his weight so a display of his strength was also not his usual demeanor. This marked one of the changes about Sakura ever since she returned.

Sakura and Chouji laughed at his earlier remark. Soon, they were sitting comfortably in the restaurant and Chouji was swallowing barbecue so fast that he looked like a vacuum.

Sakura watched Chouji with a small smile on her face. "Ahhh but food is the greatest love of all."

Chouji nodded enthusiastically as he inhaled more food. Shikamaru chuckled, shaking his head as he ate his food in his own pace, lazily and comfortably. He looked at Sakura.

"So Sakura, how are things for you?" Shikamaru asked her interestedly. He had been keeping an eye on her for a while. They all spent years just looking for her and while it was true that all of them are relieved and happy that she was home, necessary precautions had to take place. She could have been a spy for all they know, wiped off of memories and used as a weapon against Konoha. So he was keeping an eye on her.

Sakura had been suspicious. She was obviously different and she was radiating power, more than what she could ever handle in the past. Her stance spoke volumes, obviously in control. She didn't have a care in the world. For others, it would just seem like she had gotten more confident. But Shikamaru knew that it was really because Sakura wasn't scared at all. She knew that if a fight broke, she would win. And that aura confused Shikamaru, because for someone who had been thrown to a village that was knew to her, she should have been wary or at least a little nervous. But this one was all "out there." More than confidence, it was the air of a person who trusted their skills a lot to know that there was nothing to worry about. And after her sudden teamwork with Naruto and Sasuke with that Corpo Seco, she should have at least been oriented at just how strong Konoha could wbe, hat with her show with their 2 strongest fighters. But no, she was comfortable.

She was happy…too happy in Shikamaru's opinion, for someone who just discovered the greater half of her life, yanked away from the West, the city she grew accustomed to, and exposed to memories that she might not be prepared for. She was generally jolly, no tantrums or temper runs, just happy. It was almost scary because Sakura was known for her short temper.

But what ultimately lead to Shikamaru's true judgment was the pointlessness of it all. Sakura exuded power and yet acted like a noob in pretending, if she was pretending at all. A true spy would have at least made an effort to not be so different. She would have acted more confused about the scenario, and even acted scared. This one just wanted to do whatever she wanted to do. She immediately jumped to things her mind was set to, and indulge into it with excitement and thrill. But also because Sakura still acted that way even when he wasn't watching. The villagers talked about her as if she was some hero. The past Sakura was, but this one was glorified because of her kindness and quirky character that made her a joy to be around with.

Also, upon closer investigation, Shikamaru figured that the joy attitude was her means to welcome her past life back to her. Beneath her smiles was the worry about what would happen next, but she welcomed it bravely with open arms. That was why she was set to loving the village she had forgotten. That was why she was instantly attached to the villagers, because she looked on them as if they were the family she yearned for so long.

It was that kind of character that made Shikamaru decide that this girl was no spy. She was Sakura through and through, plagued with obvious changes, and yet the essentials remain; love, wit, care, bravery, and determination. She may be strong, but it all fit in.

Of course, it was still too early to drop his doubts. But as of now, he would give her the benefit of the doubt to make her comfortable in easing her way back to her life.

Sakura thought about his question. "Konoha is becoming clearer in my head everyday." She said after a while. "Although I do feel like I'm still missing some essential parts. But we can work on It right?"

Underneath the jolly tone was the genuine worry, as Shikamaru noticed. So he nodded at Sakura. "Well, I have nothing else to do so why not."

Chouji patted Sakura's head. "We'll all help you Sakura. Soon, you would start hitting all of us again."

Shikamaru chuckled. "I'm glad you still don't remember."

"Aww guys don't be like that! I wasn't that violent right?" Sakura insisted, lightly tapping Shikamaru's hand and Chouji's hand to prove her point. Chouji flinched, expecting Sakura to actually smack his head.

Shikamaru laughed. "Well there you go."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Keep it up and I'll run straight out of this shop without paying. Then you'd have to wash the dishes."

Shikamaru snorted. "Oh please, as if you can outrun the both of us." He played along. Of course, Sakura used to hate to be called weak. Perhaps this might trigger some sort of memory.

Sakura paused, her eyes glazing for a few seconds, before she turned to face Shikamaru with a mischievous grin. "Is that a challenge. Nara?"

Chouji pushed Shikamaru back in his chair. "Stop it Shikamaru. That's my angel you're talking to."

Sakura giggled. "Don't let Karui hear you."

Chouji suddenly stopped moving. Shikamaru laughed.

"Why are you guys always teasing me about Karui?!" Chouji complained, pausing momentarily from his meal to scowl at them.

Sakura looked at Chouji with an amused expression as she continued eating. Shikamaru shrugged.

"If I have to spend one more time with that troublesome girl…"

Chouji rolled his eyes. "Noone said that you can come along when I go to Kumogakure!"

"The question is, why you even have to go to Kumogakure in the first place!" Shikamaru demanded, looking exasperated.

Chouji glared at him. "Oh yeah! Why do you go to Sunagakure!"

Sakura raised a hand to stop both of them. "Alright enough you two. Conclusion, you two both have a girlfriend."

"What?! How was that the conclusion?!"

"Tsk. Troublesome. How is that logical at all?"

The two boys complained, scowling indignantly at her. Sakura giggled. "Was it Temari, Shikamaru?"

Chouji nodded with a wink at Sakura. "Lover boy says it's because she's ambassador or something. Lies."

Shikamaru raised his brows. "Well Lover boy says it's because there's some yummy barbecue place at Kumogakure! That was the real Lie!"

Chouji just laughed. "Alright. I like Karui. She's very nice and she can cook like hell. And I do appreciate you coming with me to visit her Shikamaru. But don't worry yourself too much."

Shikamaru sighed. Chouji had always been sweet and kind, even to him even when he was obviously picking a fight.

Sakura squealed. "Awwww you two are going to be so adorable Chouji!"

Chouji frowned at Sakura. "But you haven't even met her yet."

Sakura lifted her shoulders in a shrug. "yeah but because you're in it, It will always be adorable."

Chouji smiled sweetly. "Thank you Sakura chan."

Sakura smirked. "That wasn't for free. Race me to eat, if you lose, you'll pay!"

Chouji grinned wide. "Sakura, you're the one that's adorable. GAME ON!"

Then they actually started to race food.

Shikamaru sighed again, looking out the window, up at the clouds, as the two beside him try to shove as much food as they can in their mouth. This was too troublesome. But it was a nice day, nonetheless, watching them start to go red in the face.

In the end, Chouji won, which was no surprise really. But Chouji said he was really challenged, but Shikamaru wasn't sure if he was just being nice. Sakura was beaming at Chouji as she told him that racing him was really fun.

Then Sakura turned to Shikamaru. "Let's play shogi! If I beat you, then you pay!"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her antics. Why would she offer to treat them and then try as hard as she can to pass paying?

But Shikamaru relented. It was an off day so he carried his shogi board around in his bag, just incase he was bored. He set up the pieces and confidently ushered Sakura to make the first move.

Of course, Shikamaru won. Although to Sakura's credit, Shikamaru was almost sure at one part that Sakura was going to win. She was loads smarter and she came at him so unexpectedly that he almost fell to her traps and subtle goading. Of course, he saw through it just in time and managed to move his pieces to prevent her from winning. If he just a tad less smart, she would have totally beaten him. At the end of the game, Shikamaru stared questioningly at Sakura.

Sakura seemed to understand. "I was always team leader at the West. I need to always make the right calls with carefully planned strategies."

 _Ahhhh how troublesome for her,_ Shikamaru thought. Of course, strategizing had always been his line of work. But he knew just how stressing it could be. Especially if lives depend so much on your strategy. He saw a flash of strain in Sakura's eyes, and he knew that those moments of life and death and wits bothered the hell out of her.

He smiled at her sympathetically. Sakura saw it and smiled back. Without saying anything, they knew they shared the same burden.

Soon, Sakura stood up. "Anyway, I have to get going! I still really want to finish these books."

Chouji beamed at her. "Come eat with us any time okay?"

Sakura chuckled. "Yeah but I won't be paying next time!"

Chouji pretended to look affronted, but it melted away with a joking smile as he waved Sakura off fondly. Sakura gave a high five to Chouji while she graciously winked at Shikamaru before she started walking away.

That was the thing too, Shikamaru mused. Sakura was so much more likable. You couldn't help but love her. Chouji's display of affections which were rare was just one indication. It was all a part of a grand charm, but then again, perhaps it was just the village welcoming Sakura in kind as well.

"I like her." Shikamaru decided in the end. There was something unique about Sakura now that made him want to trust his life to her, even if she was admittedly worried about it.

Chouji nodded in agreement. "Me too. Although the old Sakura was never far awar."

Shikamaru shook his head in amusement as a memory of head pounding Sakura invaded their heads.

KDDFJLKDJFLKDJFLKDJSLKFJKLDSFJLKDJFL

She finally decided to settle her reading underneath a Sakura tree. It was not only peaceful and nice, it was also a little symbolic for her. She looked like she was part of the tree because of her hair. She settled herself and wiggled in place beneath the tree as she opened her book contentedly.

But suddenly, several voices interrupted her senses.

"I could have sworn I saw Sakura around here."

"Where? I am going to ask her on a date."

"What do you mean? I'LL be the one to ask her."

"Oh she wouldn't go out with two idiots like you."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Obviously she wouldn't go out with any of you because she will go out with me."

"Noone will go out with you. She will go with me."

"NO ME!"

"ME"

Sakura immediately whipped her head to the source of voices. Sakura paled.

 _Fan boys._

Most of the time, she found them adorable. After all, she respected a man who was honest about his feelings. So she never shot them down unkindly. But she did make it clear that she wasn't interested. Of course, that didn't waver the boys. And she didn't mind that they continue crushing on her as long as they knew her deal.

But she wasn't really in the mood right now. She had been itching to read her book since forever.

And now they were coming neared.

They were just a couple of meters away from her tree now.

She cursed under her breath as she pressed herself flat against her tree.

"Oh men." She complained to the winds, when suddenly, a low grunt spoke came from her side.

Her head immediately snapped to her sides. Sitting beside her under the tree with a stoic expression on his face as he regarded her silently was the man who had the most infuriating black eyes she had ever seen. He was staring at her with annoyance, like always.

"Hn." He said, calling her attention. To her surprise, her mind immediately translated the nonsense word. _What are you doing here?_

Sakura opened her mouth in disbelief.

"What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here, Uchiha Sasuke?"

 **A/N: So I know the meeting with everyone is supposed to end with this chapter. But I'm already at page 23 in word and I realized that I haven't formally made the Sasuke meeting. They met during Ino's. But they didn't exactly have a moment together. I'll write it next chapter then proceed with the Team 7's mission. Anyway, make some reviews to comment. Don't mind some mistakes okay? I'll edit it soon.**


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